Los Angeles Kings fans held their collective breath last night as Anze Kopitar took a long time to leave the ice after this rough hit by Dallas Stars captain Brenden Morrow:
ESPN Dallas’ Mark Stepneski reports that the Kings didn’t take issue with the hit and gave a better guess than just the typically vague “upper-body injury” when describing Kopitar’s issues.
“As for Kopitar, the word from Los Angeles is he had a bloody nose and sore shoulder and neck.”
NHL.com passes along word from Kopitar that he’s feeling pretty good and probably would have practiced if the Kings had one on Friday.
“The bottom line is I feel good,” Kopitar said. “It could have been worse, for sure. It’s something I have to put behind me.”
There is no guarantee that Kopitar will be able to play against former Kings forward Michael Cammalleri and the Calgary Flames on Saturday, but his issues don’t seem major. Considering the fact that Kopitar’s 40 points leads anyone else on the team by 17 or more, Los Angeles is lucky that the damage seems minimal.
Even so, I must ask: does Morrow deserve a fine and/or suspension for the hit?