Kopitar gets a recovery day

Anze Kopitar has played all 46 games for the Kings this season, and before his devastating leg injury late last season, he had been the Kings’ “iron man’’ in terms of consecutive games played. So it’s always a big surprising to see Kopitar off the ice during a practice — particularly when it’s a full-team practice — but it was a bit less surprising today, given that Kopitar has taken a couple big hits in recent games. Assistant coach John Stevens said it was a “rest day’’ for Kopitar, and that Kopitar would remain on track to play tomorrow against Vancouver.

STEVENS: “You’ve just got to trust your trainers. We talked to Darryl last night, and Darryl felt that it would be a good day for him to get a recovery day. He doesn’t get many of them. Kopi is the kind of guy who skates on game days, optionals, everything. It’s almost like you’ve got to force it upon him, and he needs it. I think it was a good opportunity to get him rested, so we get a good game from him tomorrow.’’

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