(Sports Network) - The Los Angeles Kings didn't pass their first test without defenseman Drew Doughty in the lineup. They'll try for better results this evening when they visit the Colorado Avalanche and Pepsi Center.
Doughty, a Norris Trophy finalist a season ago, suffered an upper-body injury on Wednesday and did not travel to Phoenix with the club for Thursday's game, which kicked off a five-game swing.
The blueliner is expected to miss a week of action and had one assist in five games this year after posting 59 points and a plus-20 rating in 82 contests last season.
Without Doughty, the Kings watched the Coyotes' Lee Stempniak notch his first career hat trick in Thursday's 4-2 loss. Jonathan Quick made 23 saves and Wayne Simmonds had both goals for Los Angeles, which had a three-game winning streak snapped and fell to 1-2-0 as the guest club this season.
"We had some opportunities to recover pucks, but we just didn't come up with them," Kings coach Terry Murray said. "It's about hard work, it's about intensity, recovering pucks."
Los Angeles' power play is clicking at just 4.6 percent (1-for-22), but tonight faces a Colorado team that gave up a pair of power-play goals to San Jose's Joe Pavelski in Thursday's 4-2 loss.
Kyle Cumiskey and Milan Hejduk scored for the Avalanche, who played for just the second time at home this year. Colorado won its season-opener at the Pepsi Center back on Oct. 7 before embarking on a 3-2-0 road trip. The Avalanche have lost two of three overall and got 30 saves from Craig Anderson versus the Sharks.
"We need to stay out of the penalty box," said Matt Duchene. "During 5-on-5 play, were held it together, but we can't play [against a team like San Jose] and expect to win if you are short-handed. We need to be more careful."
John-Michael Liles has an assist in each of Colorado's first seven games of the season, a club record.
Forward Brandon Yip returned to action after missing two games due to a groin injury, but defenseman Adam Foote left the contest due to a concussion that has him day-to-day. Meanwhile, forward David Jones is expected to return from a one-game absence tonight because of a bruised forearm.
The Kings went 3-0-1 versus the Avalanche last year and have won six of their last 10 in Denver.
Quick is 3-0-0 with a 3.27 goals-against average versus the Avs, while Anderson is 1-3-3 with a 2.90 GAA when facing the Kings.