Kings goalie Jonathan Quick suffers significant injury during season-opening loss to Sharks

The injury suffered by Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick in a season-opening 2-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks cast a significant shadow over a team that has heavily relied on his All-Star talent and ability to shoulder massive minutes.

Quick did not play after the first period Wednesday night at SAP Center and has what the team called a “lower body injury.” Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi said that Quick was scheduled to have a MRI on Thursday and added, though a team spokesperson, that “it’s not good.”

Kings Coach Darryl Sutter said Quick was injured on the last shift of the opening period. Quick faced 15 shots and gave up one goal.

“He got hurt sliding,” Sutter said. “I couldn’t tell if it was that play. All the trainers said he did it sliding. It’s not that big a deal. We’ve got two or three goalies. Good ones.”

The teams met in the first round of the playoffs last season with the Sharks winning in five games. Scoring the game-winner at 3:20 of the third period was San Jose defenseman Brent Burns as the Sharks were able to take advantage of a momentary hesitation by Kings defenseman Drew Doughty earlier on the play.

But Quick’s injury was the primary story line for the Kings. Backup Jeff Zatkoff, signed as a free agent in the summer, played the second and third periods, making 15 saves, and Sutter praised Zatkoff, saying, “he played really really well.”

Said Zatkoff: “It’s my job, to be there, when Quickie needs a break or goes down. I’ve got to make sure the team doesn’t miss a beat, go in there and make the saves I’m supposed to stop and get the team a W. I had an intermission to prepare and get ready, so that always makes it a little easier.

“Gives you that time, mentally to get ready. I’ve played 1,000 games. Once you’re in there, it’s all the same. Everything comes natural. You’ve got to stay out of your own way, mentally.”

Last season, Quick played a league-leading 4,034 minutes, recorded a career-high 40 wins and appeared in 68 games. Sutter traditionally loads his No. 1 goalie with heavy minutes and hasn’t shown any signs of changing his philosophy.

Quick’s injury did not happen in a brief tussle when he and his teammates got into it with the Sharks after Logan Couture’s power-play goal tied it, 1-1, at 14:05 of the first. Right wing Tyler Toffoli had the Kings’ lone goal, on the power play, at 1:22 of the first.

This marked a homecoming of sorts for former Sharks winger Devin Setoguchi, who was drafted by San Jose and scored a career-high 31 goals in 2008-09 with the Sharks. He played his first NHL game in nearly two seasons, having signed a two-way, one-year contract with the Kings on Tuesday.

His last game was Nov. 22, 2014, with the Calgary Flames. He played in Switzerland last season and his former teammate, Joe Thornton of the Sharks, put in a good word for him with Kings assistant general manager Rob Blake to help Setoguchi get a professional tryout.

“It means a lot. … It’s a big place,” Setoguchi said of coming back to San Jose. “It’s a place where I started my career. It was an organization that took me in. It means a lot. On the other side of things, this game here with this club here means more. It’s a big game for us to start the season.”

Helping out

With broadcasting icon Bob Miller adopting a reduced schedule, the Kings will be using four other announcers to call TV games this season.

Miller, who underwent quadruple-bypass surgery last season, is scheduled to work 58 games this season. The Kings said that the four announcers filling in will be Gary Thorne, Ralph Strangis, Chris Cuthbert and Jiggs McDonald.

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

Follow Lisa Dillman on Twitter @reallisa