Doughty hopes to return Tuesday

I stuck around after practice and talked to Drew Doughty, who skated and did some drills with assistant coach John Stevens for approximately 30 minutes today as part of his recovery from the big shoulder check he received from Philadelphia’s Zac Rinaldo last Saturday. Doughty is on injured reserve and can return on Tuesday at the earliest, and indicated that he’s setting that as a loose target…

DOUGHTY: “Every day, it’s been getting a lot better and hopefully I’ll be back as soon as I can. … I’m feeling a lot better. Compared to right after the game, the difference is dramatic, with how much better I’ve been. I think I’ve been making fast progress. I don’t really have a day back to shoot for yet, but hopefully I can be back for that game Tuesday. I don’t really know yet, just because so much can change in a couple days. That’s my goal, but at the same time I don’t want to rush back and re-injure myself or anything like that.”

Question: A little scary, when you first got hit?

DOUGHTY: “Yeah, I was a little scared just because last year I had that concussion right around the same time, and I think that concussion kind of set me back for the first half of the season last year. So I’m just really happy it wasn’t my head again, because I think that’s a scary thing for everyone throughout the organization, or anyone in general. I’m just really happy that wasn’t the case.”

Question: You were skating and doing some passing out there. Have you been able to shoot?

DOUGHTY: “I was shooting a little bit yesterday. They’ve just been skating me hard and working me out hard. It’s almost harder being injured. You do a lot more work and you’re at the rink for a lot longer too. It’s definitely really hard to come back from an injury, mentally and physically.”