Injured Demitra Sits Out

Pavol Demitra, the Kings’ leading scorer, sat out Saturday’s game against the San Jose Sharks because of a deep bruise in his right leg.

Demitra, who has 20 goals and 50 points, was injured when he was struck by a puck at the end of Thursday’s game against Phoenix. Although X-rays were negative, he did not make the trip to San Jose and is questionable for Monday’s game against the Mighty Ducks.

Dustin Brown, who has a bruised chest, also sat out. The Kings have nine players out with injuries. Seven have been injured since Dec. 14: Besides Demitra and Brown, Eric Belanger (torn groin), Jeff Cowan (strained hamstring), Aaron Miller (back injury) and Jeremy Roenick (broken finger) and Mike Weaver (hip) are out.

The rash of injuries left Murray asserting his control over information to the point where he called a team meeting last week to order players to refer all injuries to him.

Conner James replaced Demitra in the lineup, becoming the sixth player to make his NHL debut with the Kings this season.

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-- Chris Foster