With Blake out, Kings lose to Devils, 6-3

Kings defenseman and captain Rob Blake will be out for at least two weeks because of a broken left ankle, which occurred when he blocked a shot at Edmonton on Jan. 15.

Blake played six more games with the injury and an MRI on Friday revealed he had a non-displaced fracture, team officials said Saturday. Other previous tests did not show the fracture, Kings Coach Marc Crawford said.

The Kings were two games into an eight-game trip through the East and Midwest when Blake left the team to return to Los Angeles for treatment. On Saturday, the Kings fell to the New Jersey Devils, 6-3, at East Rutherford.

“He has played great. He really has,” Crawford said in a telephone interview. “It’s a tough loss for Rob and a tough loss for us. We think he’s going to be OK… . He’s been playing, but it’s been getting worse. He has a huge pain threshold.”

His expected return, incidentally, would be about three or four games before the NHL’s Feb. 26 trade deadline. The timing of the injury could possibly disrupt any such plans to move him. Blake has been the subject of trade rumors almost more than any other Kings player with the thought he would waive his no-trade clause.

In 53 games, Blake has five goals and 26 points, and his plus-minus rating is a minus-13.

Additionally, forward Scott Thornton is out because of an injured neck after it was determined at Saturday’s morning skate that he could not play. Crawford said he thought he would only miss the New Jersey game. Because of the injuries, the Kings have called up defenseman Peter Harrold and forward Brian Boyle from their minor-league affiliate in Manchester.

Boyle scored one of the goals for the Kings, who were 5-1-1 in the previous seven road games. Jack Johnson and Lubomir Visnovsky scored the other goals for the Kings.

“It’s pretty neat,” said Boyle, who was making his NHL debut and also assisted on Johnson’s goal. “I’m still trying to take it in. It hasn’t really hit me yet. It’s nice to score, but you want to win, obviously.”

The Devils had six different players score, led by light-scoring defenseman Colin White, who had a goal and an assist. It was White’s first goal in 126 games and 16th in 497 games.

David Clarkson, Patrik Elias, Karel Rachunek, Travis Zajac and Sergei Brylin also scored, and Martin Brodeur made 23 saves.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

lisa.dillman@latimes.com