The Los Angeles Kings are 12-7-7 going into a Thursday night showdown against the Chicago Blackhawks in LA. Kings veteran defenseman Drew Doughty exited the game on November 15 against the Ottawa Senators and was not able to return due to a lower-body injury.
Doughty missed 63 games last season, and this time, the Kings got a promising update when head coach Jim Hiller gave a timeline.
“Well, I mean, we lost him last year for I think five months, so we’ve gone through it before,” Hiller said. “It’s like any player. Someone else has to step up. Probably, other players will assume more minutes. The nice part about this is he’s week-to-week, not month-to-month. Last time was month-to-month, so we can kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel already.”
Now, all signs point to Doughty returning to the lineup against the Blackhawks, via Kings reporter Zach Dooley.
“Drew Doughty will play tonight for the @LAKings! Said he feels good, has skated a ton on his own, cardio is where it needs to be. Kings get their number-one defenseman back against Chicago.”
Doughty has eight points in 19 games for the Kings this season, but his defense has been his calling card this year.
The Kings also host the Blackhawks on Saturday before playing two road games against the Utah Mammoth and Seattle Kraken. It will be worth monitoring to see how much Doughty plays and how he feels after his return to the lineup, but the latest update sure sounds promising for the veteran.