Blues at Kings
THE STORY: The Los Angeles Kings will be without their stud defenseman in their home opener Tuesday when they take on the St. Louis Blues. Los Angeles, which began the campaign with two contests in Europe that were deemed "home" games, lost Drew Doughty to an upper body injury in Saturday's overtime victory in Philadelphia. Doughty, who signed an eight-year, $56 million contract just before the start of 2011-12, absorbed a shoulder-to-chest hit from Zac Rinaldo 24 seconds into Saturday's contest and is expected to miss at least a week. St. Louis is without Andy McDonald, who suffered the fifth concussion of his career Thursday at Dallas. The Blues swept the four-game series with Los Angeles last season, allowing two goals over the final three contests. St. Louis has won seven straight meetings with the Kings and four in a row at Staples Center.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), FS West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE BLUES (2-3-0): McDonald, who was placed on injured reserve Monday, is out indefinitely. The 34-year-old missed 24 games last season after sustaining a concussion on Dec. 4 at Edmonton. Jaroslav Halak is 5-0 with a 1.20 goals against average and .954 save percentage in five meetings with Los Angeles. St. Louis is 1-2 on its four-game road trip. The Blues return home for a contest against Carolina on Friday before embarking on another four-game trek.
ABOUT THE KINGS (2-1-1): To replace Doughty, Los Angeles recalled defenseman Slava Voynov from Manchester of the American Hockey League on Monday. The 21-year-old Voynov, a second-round pick in the 2008 draft, has yet to make his NHL debut. Anze Kopitar is off to a fast start in his return from a broken ankle, collecting three goals and four assists. Kopitar had his franchise-record 325 consecutive games streak snapped March 26 when he broke his ankle against Colorado.
OVERTIME:
1. St. Louis' Alex Steen has recorded a point in every game. He is two away from matching his career-best seven-game point streak.
2. Kings defenseman Jack Johnson has scored the winning goal in each of Los Angeles' four games. Johnson had gone the first 282 contests of his career without a game-winning tally.