On a scale of one to three for bad news, the Los Angeles Kings received about a two, in terms of goaltender Jonathan Quick.
On Wednesday, the Kings sent Quick back to Los Angeles to get some tests done with the team medical staff and on Thursday, they announced that Quick has suffered a grade two groin strain, which has the potential to keep the veteran backstop on the shelf for upwards of six weeks. If the best-case scenario happens, he is likely looking at three weeks on the shelf, but it varies from player to player.
The Kings and Quick have gotten off to a pretty good start, as Quick has already hit the 10-win mark and added a shutout for a total of 22 points in the early part of the season. Heading into Thursday night's action, Quick is ranked 12th in pool scoring, 7th among all goaltenders.
In terms of importance, Quick's share of the minutes was about 86% through 18 games. Ben Scrivens has only 159 minutes worth of playing time this season, but will now likely get the load, depending on his performance. The Kings have called up Martin Jones to back-up Scrivens.
It's a devastating loss for the pool-leading duo, as Kristy & Don will now be without their best player, thus far in the season, nor will they have any goaltending through the Waiver Draft, at least.
With neither Quick or Pekka Rinne in the crease for them, both of them on the shelf for the foreseeable future, it will be an interesting decision about what to do with one or both of them.
The duo have a 6-point lead heading into Thursday night, as Allan is nipping at their heels, but without his best player. In 3rd place, Brenda sits 8 points back, but her line-up is hurting as well.
If there is a plus side to the injury, Grant S. can see it. Grant has Scrivens on his team and will cash in on some minutes in the short-term, at the very least. Grant current sits in 8th place with 144 points and is 18 points out of 1st place, going into Thursday.
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