Kings center Anze Kopitar said he is ready to return to the lineup after missing the last three games because of an upper-body injury.

The Kings and Kopitar practiced in Detroit on Saturday afternoon before traveling to Raleigh, N.C. They play at Carolina on Sunday and obviously will be boosted by Kopitar’s presence. Forward Marian Gaborik, who has played only three games because of an upper-body injury, is getting closer but is still not quite ready.

“It felt good,” said Kopitar, the Kings’ leading scorer the last seven seasons. “I’m planning on it, unless there’s something really drastic that happens. But I don’t think I’m going to be doing anything this afternoon. Hopefully it stays that way. and hopefully I feel that way tomorrow.”

He disclosed that he thought the injury was more severe at first when he went down against Columbus on Sunday at Staples Center.


”...My whole arm went numb and then it kinda got back (to normal),” said Kopitar, who has two goals and three points in eight games. “It was just one of those bad stingers. The severity, it wasn’t that bad, I guess. It was gone pretty much right after. I didn’t know ... when I landed on the ice it was kinda scary when your whole arm gets numb and it’s not a very great feeling.

“I tried it a couple of times after and I didn’t have a whole lot of power in me. It came back pretty quick. A couple of days after, I felt like I had pretty good strength. Again, I had to be a little bit cautious too, not to overdo it.”

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