Kings’ Mats Zuccarello rejoins lineup; Kevin Fiala close to return
The Los Angeles Kings provided an update on several players and the injuries they’re dealing with ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Nashville Predators.
The most notable of the updates was winger Mats Zuccarello, who is expected to return to Tuesday’s game against the Predators. He had missed the last six games with an upper-body, and was placed on injured reserve as a result. At this point in time, Zuccarello has not been activated from IR, but the Kings will not need to make a corresponding roster move to do so with only 22 players on their roster right now.
The start to Zuccarello’s Kings’ tenure has been one to forget, as he has just one assist in six games thus far. In addition to his current injury, he also missed three games with an undisclosed injury in the middle of October.
Perhaps the biggest news is that winger Kevin Fiala may finally be close to a return as well. While he will not be returning on Tuesday, it appears that he should return for either Thursday’s game against the New York Islanders or for Saturday’s game against the Calgary Flames. Fiala has been out since February after sustaining a lower leg fracture while playing for Switzerland at the Olympics, and requiring surgery to repair it.
Fiala is an important piece to the Kings’ offense, as he’s finished in the top three in points in every season since his trade in the 2022 offseason. The Kings were hoping that trading for Artemi Panarin right before the Olympic break would give them another dynamic forward option as the playoffs approached, but Fiala was hurt before he could even play a game with Panarin.
Additionally, Erik Gustafsson was not on the ice for Tuesday’s morning skate. This coming after he also missed Monday’s practice could mean he is unavailable for Tuesday’s game, but nothing has been confirmed on that front.
The Kings currently sit in seventh in the Pacific Division with a 5-8-2 record, and are nine points behind the Utah Mammoth for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Los Angeles will look to bounce back from their 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins when they host the Predators on Tuesday at 7 p.m. PST.
