Kings hope to get a boost from Robyn Regehr’s return

They’ve won a mere four games since he has been out of the lineup and the penalty-killing has faltered after the Christmas break, so yes, the Kings are welcoming the return of steady defenseman Robyn Regehr.

Regehr, out since Dec. 18 because of a broken finger, is scheduled to return tonight against his former team, the Calgary Flames, and is excited to come back after the long layoff.

Originally, he was thought to be out for about two to three weeks. Instead it turned into a month because it took longer for his finger to regain mobility after having been in a cast so long.

“His leadership is critical,” Kings Coach Darryl Sutter said after Monday’s morning skate. “We talked about it last week, the work ethic that he brings and the day-to-day professionalism.”

With Regehr back in, that means defenseman Jeff Schultz will be out. The Kings have given up at least one power-play goal in five of their last six games.

“How is our penalty-killing? Not good enough,” Sutter said.

Kings goalie Martin Jones (back spasms) got in some work later with the extra defensemen and forward Tyler Toffoli (mono). The Kings called up goalie JF Berube from their American Hockey League affiliate in Manchester, N.H., after Jones hurt his back.

“It’s gotten better every day,” Jones said. “Day to day right now. Just kind of tweaked it a little bit….First time, I’ve ever missed time with it.”

“More of just a bad spasm, initially. It’s calmed down a lot. Now it’s to the point of getting everything around it, muscles and the hips and hamstrings, moving correctly and getting mobility back.”

It’s been an especially rough stretch for the two roommates: Jones and forward Tanner Pearson, who broke his leg against Winnipeg on Jan. 10 and required surgery.

Sutter said, joking: “I think he (Jones) took two or three days off so he could take care of Tanner.”