Not the way to start a Monday – the LA Kings have announced that forwards Alex Iafallo and Alex Turcotte have gone into COVID protocol. On Monday, Sean Durzi was also among those absent from practice, sidelined with a non-COVID illness.
As Zach notes, Kings head coach Todd McLellan doesn’t expect Durzi to miss much time.
However, Turcotte and Iafallo are sure to miss at least Thursday’s game against the Nashville Predators and potentially Saturday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, depending on when they went into isolation. If you recall, the league recently modified its COVID protocol policy, dropping the mandatory isolation period from 10 to five days. So if both players went into isolation today, the earliest they could return is for Monday’s game against the New York Rangers.
Dustin Brown and Olli Maatta returned from COVID protocol and were with the team on Monday. Both players will be available for Thursday’s game.
The Turcotte/Iafallo news comes at a lousy time, given that the Kings have been playing good hockey over the last ten games.
This season, Alex Iafallo got off to a great start, accumulating 10 goals and 20 points through 33 games. He was recently elevated to the team’s first line alongside captain Anze Kopitar, where he primarily spent the first four years of his career.
With only three NHL games under his belt, Alex Turcotte was starting to play confident hockey after some apprehension in his NHL debut – understandably so. The 20-year-old is still looking for his first NHL point and nearly potted his first goal against the Canucks.
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