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Kings’ Jake Muzzin is hopeful he can play Thursday after missing three games with upper-body injury

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The streak was and was not a point of pride for Jake Muzzin.

The Kings defenseman played in 281 consecutive games, or more than three seasons, before an upper-body injury ended it this month. It was minuscule compared to the 830-game streak that recently ended for Ducks winger Andrew Cogliano, but Muzzin was mindful of enduring and preparing for the everyday grind, especially considering the modest beginning to his career.

“You want to be healthy and take pride in looking after yourself and playing hard and being there for your teammates and for your team,” Muzzin said.

He acknowledged he wasn’t very aware of his streak, though, until it ended. And that got his attention.

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“It’s not hurting me that it’s over,” Muzzin said of the streak. “It’s hurting me that I’m not playing with the team.”

It’s hurting the Kings as well. They are 0-3 without Muzzin, who practiced again Wednesday and said that “hopefully it’s over and I’ll be back Thursday — hopefully.”

Muzzin isn’t a cure-all but his absence has been noticeable during a four-game losing streak the Kings will attempt to end Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Muzzin is having one of his more complete seasons, back with partner Drew Doughty in the top pairing until he could no longer play through an injury suffered on Dec. 30.

“I think he just solidifies your defense and your pairs, especially [against] a team like Pittsburgh,” Kings coach John Stevens said. “They’ve got a really balanced attack. They’ve got power on all different lines there. He’s become an important guy on our team. He has been for a while. So getting a guy who plays that kind of minutes back will be good for us.”

The Kings could use Muzzin on their No.1-ranked penalty kill against Pittsburgh’s No.1 power play. Through Wednesday, about one-third of the Penguins’ goals — 43 out of 133 — came on the man-advantage. They use Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang and Patric Hornqvist on the first unit.

“We have a lot of confidence in our PK,” Doughty said. “Everyone works their [butt] off and obviously our goalies make big saves when they need to. We keep our structure in place and try to out-compete them, we shouldn’t have any problems. But it’s definitely something that we need to look over and make sure we have their plays imprinted on our mind.

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“Having [Muzzin] back is obviously a plus, and huge for our team.”

Muzzin’s return would have a tinge of coincidence because he was drafted by Pittsburgh in 2007. The Penguins chose him after Muzzin played only 37 games in junior hockey that season, and he went through two training camps with them as a young, untested defenseman who knew he wasn’t ready yet.

Muzzin remembers chasing Crosby in drills, and one thing went through his mind at the time.

“Yeah, I’m far off,” Muzzin said.

UP NEXT

VS. PITTSBURGH

When: 7 p.m. PT, Thursday.

On the air: TV: NBCSN; Radio: 790.

Update: Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray returned home following the death of his father and will be unavailable indefinitely, the team announced. Crosby scored twice in his only regular-season appearance at Staples Center last season. The Kings have won four straight against the Penguins. Former Kings winger Jussi Jokinen was claimed off waivers by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

curtis.zupke@latimes.com

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Twitter: @curtiszupke

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