Kings' Kopitar expected to miss Tuesday's game forcing team to play a man short

The Los Angeles Kings are in an odd predicament heading into Tuesday night's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, a game in which they're likely to be without injured ace two-way centerman Anze Kopitar.

Kopitar, who sustained an upper body injury this weekend, is travelling with the team and took to the ice for Los Angeles' game day skate on Tuesday. While his injury isn't believed to be serious, he took line-rushes as an extra alongside Marian Gaborik according to lakingsinsider.com reporter Jon Rosen, which would suggest that he's out of the lineup on Tuesday.

Now here's where things get complicated. It's difficult enough to play without your best forward, but the issue is even murkier for the Kings who may be forced to play with just 17 skaters on Tuesday night. 

As Los Angeles Times reporter Lisa Dillman explains:

But if his upper-body injury keeps him out of Tuesday's game against the Flyers, the Kings face the possibility of dressing only 11 forwards because they're too close to the salary cap to bring up a replacement from the minor leagues. Kings executives spent much of the day Monday working with officials from the NHL and the NHL Players' Assn. trying to get a temporary cap exemption and the flexibility to recall a player from Manchester (N.H.), likely Jordan Weal.

The Kings' salary-cap situation is complicated because the salary of defenseman Slava Voynov counts against their cap total during his league-imposed suspension. Voynov was suspended indefinitely by the NHL last week after his arrest on suspicion of domestic violence.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly is quoted by Dillman as saying that Voynov's status remains unchanged for now, although he also said that the league would "look into whether some type of relief might be appropriate."

In the meantime the Kings will be unable to call up a Kopitar replacement, according to Kings general manager Dean Lombardi, who doesn't seem altogether pleased:

"It's one thing for the player to have to pay a penalty.It's another thing for 19 other guys to have to go out there shorthanded," Lombardi added.