Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 19)

Anze Kopitar was not out on the bench to start the 2nd period in the game between the Kings and the Blues, as he was reportedly hurt in in his last shift of the opening frame, suffering something in the lower-body area.  According to some Kings reporting, there was no indication about when or where Kopitar was hurt and that the coaching staff were not up to giving out any updates on the situation, so we're left with just about nothing to really report on.  His status for the weekend is questionable, at best, when the Kings visit Nashville on Saturday night.

If Stacey C. is wanting to hold on to his top 20 spot this year, 20th place today, he'll require a healthy Kopitar down the stretch.  His team currently holds a 10-point advantage on Benson and both teams are even at 14 points this week, but Stacey's opposition holds an advantage in the projected games department.  How very intriguing!

There must be something very appealing about Ryan McDonagh's head this month, as he was popped for a second time in February, forcing him from a game. On Thursday night, Leafs forward Leo Komarov was tossed from a game for giving the Rangers captain a shot to the jaw and he'll face supplemental discipline on Friday with a phone call from the Department of Player Safety.  There was no immediate word on McDonagh's condition, but since he was just coming off of a concussion, there will be plenty of concern to go around.

Derek W. is having a pretty good week, as his team is in the race for Mover & Shaker through four nights, but another loss of player games certainly won't help his cause.  The Rangers only have one more game this week, so it isn't a great loss, scoring at under half a point-per-game, but you will never know what he would have done, if he was in the lineup.

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