Kings’ Anze Kopitar out week-to-week with foot injury

The Los Angeles Kings will have to brave on without their captain for a little while.

As reported by Elliotte Friedman, Anze Kopitar is will be out week-to-week with a foot injury after getting struck by a puck in Monday’s shootout loss against the Minnesota Wild.

On a positive note, Corey Perry skated in practice wearing a regular jersey for the first time this season, which bodes well for the veteran making his Kings’ debut sometime soon.

Without Kopitar, look for Phillip Danault to move up Los Angeles’ lineup and assume a role as a top-six center.

The Kings certainly aren’t used to life without their captain, as Kopitar has missed only three games combined over the past four seasons. The 38-year old has been remarkably durable and effective this late into his career. In now his 20th NHL season, he has yet to experience a serious dropoff in his production. Last season, the Slovenian national tallied 21 goals and 46 assists for 67 points, which was in line with his career average of 72 points per season. Prior to injury, he was off to another solid start this year, with four assists in four games played.

As for Perry, he signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the Kings this offseason, and will begin his 21st NHL season once he gets into game action. The once-superstar turned bottom-six superpest, who won a Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks back in 2007, has been somewhat of a hired gun in the back end of his career. He spent the last two seasons chasing another Cup with the Edmonton Oilers, and spent the two years prior doing the same with the Tampa Bay Lightning, with a brief stint on the Chicago Blackhawks in between.

The Kings will host the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, and then head out for a five-game road trip starting with St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.