One phrase sticks from the following clip: "Get up Anze." You have to allow for a bit of homerism from the announce crew at a time like this, as the Los Angeles Kings saw leading scorer Anze Kopitar felled by a broken ankle on this play, losing him for a minimum of six weeks according to Coach Terry Murray:
As you can see, Kopitar twisted his right leg after battling Colorado Avalanche defenseman Ryan O'Byrne near the boards. He was helped off the ice after being unable to put any weight on his ankle. There's an MRI due on Monday, but Murray told the media after the Kings' 4-1 win that it's a broken ankle.
Kopitar led the Kings with 25 goals and 47 assists for 72 points and was a plus-24.
Rich Hammond of LA Kings Insider had reaction from Dustin Brown on the injury:
"He's our best player. We've got to find a way, either way. Injuries happen during the year. You don't want to have your best player go down, but if that's the case, we need to shoulder the responsibility collectively and find a way. No other team is going to feel sorry for us.
"We'll maybe find out what we're made of. You have our top two scorers possibly out. … That's part of an 82-game schedule, and we have to find a way to keep going as a team."
In the last week, the Kings have now lost their leading and second-leading scorers to long-term injuries, as Justin Williams is done for at least six weeks with a separated shoulder. The good news is that both players could be back by May. The bad news is that without them, there's no assurance the Kings will even make the dance in the tightly packed Western Conference. There's enough talent there to close the deal, especially in goal. But this is the last player the Kings wanted to see go down in late March.
No comments:
Post a Comment