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Zatkoff ‘good to go,’ so Kings send Campbell back down

Dallas Stars v Los Angeles Kings

LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 07: Goaltender Jeff Zatkoff #37 of the Los Angeles Kings stands on the ice during a break in a preseason game against the Dallas Stars at T-Mobile Arena on October 7, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dallas won 6-3. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Yesterday, we passed along word that the Kings were getting healthier at forward, and now it appears that’s happening in goal as well.

Jeff Zatkoff, who was forced to leave last week’s game against Ottawa with a groin injury, said he’s ready to return ahead of tomorrow’s home tilt versus the Devils.

That means Jack Campbell, who played a grand total of 20 minutes at the NHL level this year, is headed back down to AHL Ontario.

“I feel 100 percent confident now,” Zatkoff said, per LA Kings Insider. “I feel it’s good to go, so now I’ll just keep working on getting back up to game speed.”

It’ll be interesting to see when Zatkoff makes his return. His injury, along with the one to starting netminder Jonathan Quick, basically forced head coach Darryl Sutter to ride Peter Budaj almost exclusively over the last four weeks.

Budaj, who projected to spend most of this year in the AHL, has fared well as the temporary No. 1, going 8-6-1 with a .914 save percentage and 2.12 GAA.

Zatkoff was signed this summer to be Quick’s backup, though, so logic would assume he’ll be in soon.