Kings’ Jeff Carter has ankle injury, is unlikely to play Friday

The Alberta high couldn’t even last 24 hours for the Kings.

Forward Jeff Carter, acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets shortly before the league’s trade deadline, injured his ankle late in Wednesday’s resounding 3-0 win against the Flames at Calgary.

From what Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi was saying, it sounded as though Carter would not be able to play Friday at Edmonton. Still the team is calling the injury day to day.

“It happened late, but he was able to finish the game,” a glum-sounding Lombardi said on Thursday afternoon in a telephone interview.

It appeared as though he tweaked or twisted the ankle, Lombardi said. Often ankles end up being much worse the next day in terms of pain and swelling. Carter spent Thursday getting therapy, and the team thought it would know more about his condition on Friday. The Kings finish their four-game trip at Minnesota on Saturday.

The injury comes as Carter and his linemate Mike Richards have been mired in decided slumps. Carter has no points in his last four games and has scored once since March 13, an empty-netter against the Sharks on March 20. Richards has scored three goals since Christmas and has no points in his last four games.

The obvious replacement for Carter is forward Brad Richardson. In fact, Coach Darryl Sutter was contemplating having Richardson back in the lineup against the Flames and had him take the pregame warmup before opting to stick with the usual roster.