Doughty expected to miss 8 weeks with knee injury
The Los Angeles Kings expect defenseman Drew Doughty to miss approximately eight weeks due to a tibial plateau contusion in his knee, general manager Rob Blake announced Wednesday.
The veteran will resume skating in six weeks.
Doughty suffered the injury during Friday's contest against the Dallas Stars following a knee-on-knee collision with defenseman Jani Hakanpaa. Doughty needed help off the ice, and he didn't return.
Hakanpaa was assessed a major penalty and ejected from the game, but he didn't receive any supplementary discipline for the play.
The damage to the Kings' blue line didn't stop there, with the team also announcing defenseman Sean Walker will miss the rest of the campaign after tearing his ACL and MCL Monday versus the St. Louis Blues. Walker will undergo surgery at a later date.
Los Angeles has placed both players on injured reserve.
Doughty led all Kings skaters in ice time so far this season, averaging 22:37 a contest. He also had the second-most points on the roster with seven in four games, trailing just Anze Kopitar.
Walker put up two points in six games while playing 18:22 minutes a game.