Robitaille Suffers Broken Left Foot

The Kings’ bandwagon, which picked up speed in a 5-0-1 run that had them tied for the most points in the NHL as of Friday morning, has blown a tire.

Luc Robitaille, the team’s leading scorer, was found to have a broken bone in his left foot that will sideline him two to six weeks.

Robitaille was injured when he was hit by a shot by teammate Ziggy Palffy in a game against Pittsburgh at Staples Center on Oct. 28. After X-rays were negative, Robitaille played at Chicago, Pittsburgh and Detroit before undergoing an MRI exam on Thursday that revealed the break.

“I’m talking two weeks [to recover] and I’m going to try to beat that,” Robitaille said, propping his ice-encased foot on an aluminum crutch Friday morning at Iceoplex in North Hills.

The six-week estimate was made by doctors who diagnosed a crack in a bone just above his big toe.

Robitaille, among the Kings’ most experienced players with 14 NHL seasons, will be replaced by Jason Blake, who has 15 NHL games, and who will be completing a meteoric rise from being a healthy scratch on Wednesday at Detroit to playing on the Kings’ top line tonight against Philadelphia.

“We have a number of interchangeable parts,” King Coach Andy Murray said. “We just have to go to the parts department for another one.”

The replacement part has one NHL goal, scored in his one game last season.

Robitaille has 527, 10 of them this season. He was tied with six others for the NHL scoring lead on Friday.

Murray made the decision to elevate Blake and move him from center to left wing after mulling moving Vladimir Tsyplakov from the fourth line and Marko Tuomainen from injured reserve into Robitaille’s spot. The coach’s chief consideration was not disrupting the other lines because they are playing well.

“It’s a great opportunity for Jason Blake,” Murray said. “Based on his training camp and his offensive capabilities, and not wanting to alter the other lines, this move made the most sense.”

In a sense, also, it’s a put-up-or-shut-up move. Blake, who was in college at North Dakota at this time last season, has chafed at his small-frog-in-a-big-pond status.

“I get tired of him looking around at me on the bench with that look that says, ‘Coach, when are you going to put me in?’ ” Murray said. “He never says anything, but I can see that little kid’s look in his eyes.”

Blake is averaging fewer than 10 minutes a game, having spent most of his playing time centering the fourth line.

“I don’t know how I look,” Blake said. “I just want to be out there. I know this is a different level--you’re being paid and all that--but at every level I’ve ever played, I’ve been the guy to go out there.”

He has two assists and has not scored a goal in 19 shots this season.

“Obviously, I haven’t been putting the puck in the net, making the people around me better,” said Blake, expressing disappointment in his offense. “A lot of times I get knocked off the puck, and you’ve got to look at yourself and say, ‘Maybe I’ve got to be grittier.’ ”

For all of Robitaille’s stature as a sniper, he has made his living this season by going to the net, scoring in traffic. At 6 feet 1 and 215 pounds, and stronger because of two seasons on a weight program, he has withstood the pounding near the goalie, giving Palffy and center Jozef Stumpel room to roam.

Blake is listed at 5-10 and 185 pounds, a generous measurement, and he must deal with players much bigger and stronger.

“Jason Blake will go [to the net],” Murray said. “He’s a strong little guy. And his body will get there a little quicker [than Robitaille’s].

“I don’t have Luc at my disposal, and we have to look at the positives that this young guy brings. He’s tenacious on the puck.”

Robitaille tried to deal with the injury by icing the foot, but found in Wednesday’s game at Detroit that it was no longer enough.

“It was hard to jump on the ice between shifts,” he said. “I knew then that there was something wrong.”