Schedule break comes at good time for Kings’ injured players

Call the mini-break in the Kings’ schedule a case of good timing.

They practiced Sunday — Kings Coach Darryl Sutter called it a “good aerobic day” — will have Monday off, and do not play until Thursday, giving their wounded centers more time to heal.

Jeff Carter (foot) is on injured reserve, retroactive to Wednesday, and Jarret Stoll left the game against Nashville on Saturday in the second period because of an upper-body injury and is day to day, according to Sutter.

“It’s [been] nagging … both them guys; Carter, too, his foot,” Sutter said. “Better to take care of it now, the way our schedule is.”

Carter hurt his ankle shortly before the playoffs with the Kings in 2012 and suffered a hairline fracture at the top of his right foot in 2011, an injury that came early in his brief tenure with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The extra time between games also will give the Kings time to work on their penalty-killing issues. They gave up two power-play goals in a 4-3 loss to the Predators and are ranked 24th in the league. On Saturday, Sutter was sharply critical of the penalty-killers, in particular defensemen Matt Greene and Willie Mitchell.

He added to those comments Sunday.

“One guy [Mitchell] has missed a year and a half and the one guy [Greene] played about six games in a year, so it’s probably where they’re at, whether they can regain that skill set,” Sutter said.

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

Twitter: @reallisa