Top Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty has taken one step closer to full health, returning to skating drills on Tuesday head coach Jim Hiller shared with NHL.com’s Zach Dooley. Doughty has missed the entire regular season after undergoing an ankle surgery in October. He was placed on long-term injured reserve on October 9th.
The Kings defense has been great in Doughty’s absence. Rookie Brandt Clarke leads the bunch in scoring with an impressive 21 points in 36 games – and is quickly followed by Vladislav Gavrikov, Jordan Spence, and Joel Edmundson in scoring double-digit points. The blue-line has been a major factor in the Kings’ 21-10-5 record, and getting back their franchise defender in Doughty could be the piece to really push them into company with the league’s top teams. The 35-year-old Doughty recorded 50 points in 82 games last season – his second consecutive year reaching the 50-point mark. His performance featured 15 goals, the most Doughty has scored since the 2009-10 season. While age has certainly slowed his game, he still seems poised to make a major impact in Los Angeles’ top-four once he’s back to full health.
Sticking to the Western Conference, Nashville Predators defenseman Adam Wilsby missed the team’s Tuesday game against Minnesota with an upper-body injury. He has been designated as day-to-day, per a team announcement. Wilsby has been a focal piece of Nashville’s blue-line, averaging nearly 19 minutes of ice time each game and recording three points across 15 games. He’s 10 games shy of making this year his official rookie season in the NHL. Wilsby earned the promotion after climbing the ranks of the Milwaukee Admirals, totaling 44 points in 126 games with the club over the last three seasons – including five points in 13 games this year. Recent trade acquisition Justin Barron is filled in for Wilsby. It’s his third game with the Predators. Barron is still searching for his first point with the team.
Jumping out East, Sidney Crosby is continuing to stamp himself as the pinnacle Pittsburgh Penguin. He recorded his 1,034th assist on Sunday night, passing Mario Lemieux for the franchise’s all-time record and pushing Crosby to 12th on the NHL’s all-time assist leaderboards. Crosby sits 16 assists back from surpassing Gordie Howe and entering the top-10 of that list. He’s still 88 points shy of breaking Lemieux’s franchise record for all-time points. Crosby has two years on his contract after this season, which should be plenty of runway to set more Penguins scoring records, and continue challenging the tops of NHL record books.