No ill effects after Kopitar’s puck scare

Anze Kopitar, struck in the neck with a Dion Phaneuf shot during the third period of last night’s 2-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, appeared in front of reporters no worse for the wear less than 24 hours after a frightening moment.

“I just couldn’t get out of the way or couldn’t catch it with my hands,” Kopitar recalled of the shot from the left point. “At first, it probably looked a lot worse than it actually was. But it was a little bit scarier at the beginning because I couldn’t breathe and I was starting to gag on the ice. I thought I was going to throw up. Luckily I didn’t, so that’s good.”

And luckily he was able to breathe again.

“They were looking at the throat,” Kopitar said of his quick trip to the dressing room. “They were just checking if I was spitting some blood up or if there was something that was not feeling right. Obviously at that time, not a whole lot of things are going to feel right. But they just checked the structure and tried to feel it. The doctor was kind of tipping around and that was about it.”

He was gone for roughly two and a half minutes after having suffered the injury 2:32 into the third period. He was on the ice for a Drew Doughty blocked shot at the 5:04 mark, per the game’s play by play log.

“With the ear, it’s a cut and they stitch it up and it’s all good,” Kopitar said, referencing a prior injury. “With this one, at first I was a little bit more concerned because I couldn’t breathe at first with all the sensations I had in my throat. But after I came back I just wanted to get back out there as quickly as [I could].”

Anze Kopitar, on what he’s looking forward to at the All-Star Game:
I think it’s going to be pretty fun, obviously. The whole weekend is really fun, and then maybe playing against Darryl or Drew, for that matter. I’m sure there are going to be some chirps on the ice, but that’s about it.

Kopitar, on Martin Jones recording seven shutouts in his first 29 appearances:
I think that’s one of his strengths, obviously his mental toughness, because I can’t imagine how good can that be for a goalie. For him to sit on the bench for several games, then you get the call and you have to perform. Especially, I though last night was one of the most critical times of this season because we needed to get back on track, get the two points and he stood tall there. It was really nice to see.

Kopitar, on any effort to shore up defensively without Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson:
I don’t think that’s the case, no. But it seemed that way last night. It shouldn’t be the case, let’s put it that way. It’s tough to see Tyler and Tanner go down. We definitely miss them, but at the same time we always pride ourselves on having a lot of depth in our lineup, and it’s going to show now.

Kopitar, on how he would compare the defensive effort to “the last stretch of games”:
Yeah, it was there. It also seems like we’re getting the right bounces this time around. Pucks were not going in off our skates. Richie made a great play in the third period when Jonesy was beat on Van Riemsdyk, I think it was. On that play, he was pretty much beat, and Richie came in and stuck his stick in there, and those are the types of breaks that you need to win close hockey games, and we did last night.

On what the ‘Kings brand of hockey’ means to him:
I think just taking care of the puck and not giving the other team opportunities off our mistakes – solid defensively, special teams, penalty kill – I thought it was good last night again. Our power play can definitely be better, but it’s not going to be on every game. You want to make sure to at least tie the special teams and we did that last night, and we came up with a couple of goals and that’s it.