Kings defenseman Matt Greene sidelined with upper-body injury
The nasty fight-filled game Monday night against the Vancouver Canucks took its toll on the Kings after all, with defenseman Matt Greene going out of the lineup with an undisclosed upper-body injury.
According to Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi, Greene will not be accompanying the team on its upcoming four-game trip, which begins Thursday in St. Louis, against the high-flying Blues.
Greene was injured in the second period during a fight with Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa in a game that produced 109 penalty minutes. The two tangled after Bieksa took a shot at Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick during a Vancouver power play. Greene took exception to the contact, instigated a fight, and eventually body-slammed Bieksa to the ice.
Greene received 17 minutes in penalties on the play, but did not return to the bench when he was eligible to return in the third period.
Afterward, Kings Coach Darryl Sutter was coy about what happened, saying that he saw Greene in street clothes and didn’t know the extent of the injury.
The Kings were off Tuesday and practice at El Segundo on Wednesday.
Greene had been a healthy scratch the previous four games and earlier this season missed significant time with a concussion. Defenseman Alec Martinez, who was not in the lineup against the Canucks, likely will return against the Blues.
Toffoli sent down
Tyler Toffoli was assigned Tuesday to the Manchester (N.H) Monarchs of the American Hockey League. In 33 games with the Kings, the forward recorded nine goals, 17 points and a plus-14 rating. He hadn’t scored a goal in his last 11 games.
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