Kopitar progressing; unclear if he plays Wednesday

On Tuesday, Anze Kopitar again practiced with the Kings. Again, he was grouped in rushes with a pair of players on the mend in Andy Andreoff and Marian Gaborik.

Darryl Sutter said that Kopitar, who suffered an upper-body injury when he was jammed into the boards from an awkward bump by Ottawa defenseman Marc Methot on November 11, remains “day-to-day,” and that he was skating well. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow,” Sutter said.

Tomorrow’s home game against the New York Islanders is the club’s final game before a Thanksgiving Day break, a Friday practice day and a Saturday visit from the Chicago Blackhawks. For a team that’s also looking to get Andreoff and Gaborik up to game speed, this pause in the schedule – “seven in 21 is actually the way I’m looking at it,” Sutter said, beginning with just two games in nine days – is conducive towards getting the forward group back up to full strength. (Neither defenseman Brayden McNabb nor goalie Jonathan Quick is close to returning to action.)

“I’m feeling good, I’m feeling better then I did a few days ago. Definitely on the right track,” said Kopitar, who noticeably had a bit more zip on his shots on net than he did on Sunday. Whether he plays against the Isles won’t known until game day; there could be an indication from line rushes at Wednesday’s morning skate.

“We’ll see,” Kopitar said. “You know, nothing’s for certain yet, but I wouldn’t exclude it either. We’ll see how it feels and like I said, I’m progressing in the right direction and obviously the main goal is to do that, feel better every day, and when it’s time it’ll be time and obviously I’ll play again.”

The durable center has missed the last five Kings games – the most games he has missed in any season since he missed the final seven games of the 2010-11 season with a broken ankle – and the team has admirably won three in a row to bring its record without the world-class player to 3-1-1. Jeff Carter, the NHL’s first star of the week, has had a hand in the success with game-winning goals in each of the last three.

“Oh it’s been great,” Kopitar said of Carter’s recent stretch. “It’s not like he hasn’t done it before when I was in, so he’s obviously one of our go-to guys in the way he’s played. Obviously last week and the last five, six games, it’s very, very nice to see him go like that and get on the scoresheet and everything. It obviously builds his confidence, which is good for everybody.”

The team took the ice for a near-hour-long practice, allowing Kopitar, Gaborik and Andreoff the opportunity for a good aerobic skate a day after a scheduled recovery day. Andreoff had said last week that Wednesday’s game was his target game to return, though Kopitar’s final judgement of whether or not he can play will come down to “feeling good on the ice and doing everything that I need to do.”

“I personally wouldn’t let myself go and then go on the ice and not be able to do what I need to do to help this team, so that’s obviously the last one that I got to clear with myself and feel comfortable and feel good about it,” he said.

Kopitar, who wasn’t placed on injured reserve, has two goals, eight points and a plus-one rating in 15 games this season. The team currently has 22 players on the active roster; both Andreoff and Gaborik are currently on injured reserve.

Anze Kopitar, on not having to rush back, given the team’s recent success:
Yeah, it definitely takes a little bit of pressure off. Yeah, for sure, so I can just focus on my thing and get better and not rush it too much. I’m usually the guy that you’ve got to pull back and tell him to take a few more days or whatever the case may be, but it’s hard to watch. I mean, first of all, it’s very boring not to be around the guys all the time because you’re pretty much on your own program and watching games is no fun.

Kopitar, on whether he yells things at the TV while watching games live:
Yeah, I try to help the guys out yelling at the TV. Yeah, all of that, you know, not to the full extent but some stuff comes out of my mouth like I’m on the bench and you’re seeing the game and you’re trying to help them out so once you’re in, you’re in. It’s no different for me.

Kopitar, on the Jordan Nolan – Jared Boll fight:
That was good. I guess watching it live I don’t think it does it justice right off the get-go, but then once you see the slo-mo and the super slo-mo then you see the haymakers and all of that, how the guys just pretty much took ‘em and give ‘em, so it was very nice.