Kings won’t have injured defensemen Jake Muzzin and Derek Forbort for some time
The Kings are expected to be without injured defensemen Jake Muzzin and Derek Forbort for the immediate future.
Forbort suffered a lower-body injury just more than three minutes into Monday’s game against Colorado and reportedly left Staples Center on crutches.
“We’ll just see how he responds the next few days here, but neither one will be available for [Thursday],” coach John Stevens said.
The Kings, who play Thursday at home against the Minnesota Wild, are one standings point short of a playoff berth. They can clinch Wednesday if the St. Louis Blues lose to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Muzzin and Forbort are two of the Kings’ top four defensemen in ice time. Forbort is tied for 14th in the NHL in blocked shots. Muzzin has missed three games with an upper-body injury and has been skating.
Without Muzzin and Forbort, the Kings still have seven defensemen at their disposal with Kevin Gravel and free-agent signee Daniel Brickley as extras. Brickley was not expected to make his NHL debut in a meaningful game but Stevens left open that possibility.
“To be honest, the fair thing to do to the hockey team right now is to try and put [in] the player who can best help us right now,” Stevens said. “I think they’ll both get consideration.”
Alex Iafallo appears to be progressing with an upper-body injury and could join the team for practice Wednesday.
Follow Curtis Zupke on Twitter @curtiszupke
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