Jonathan Quick out 'week-to-week' with lower-body injury

Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick is out “week-to-week” with a lower body injury according to coach Darryl Sutter.

Quick reportedly underwent an MRI on Thursday after coming out of LA’s season opening loss following the first period. The Kings also announced Quick had been put on injured reserve.

[Sign up to play Yahoo Fantasy Hockey for free | Mock Draft |Latest news]

The 30-year-old netminder seemed to come up in pain after a sequence of saves near the end of the frame. Los Angeles general manager Dean Lombardi told reporters Quick could be injured for “a while” and it’s “not good” but didn’t give any specifics on the nature of the injury.

Backup goaltender Jeff Zatkoff finished the game, stopping 15 of 16 shots on goal to take the loss. The 29-year-old Zatkoff has started 29 games in his NHL career. Last season, he played 14 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins and held a 2.79 goal-against average and .917 save percentage. Zatkoff was picked in the third-round of the NHL Draft by the Kings in 2006.

“Since the start of training camp we’ve been working on things in my game that we think I can get better at. The focus doesn’t change,” Zatkoff said according to LA Kings Insider. “I still have to continue to work on those things, and I’m going to probably get some more game opportunities to get those habits into action. That’s the next step, but my mindset doesn’t change. I’ve played enough games. My job’s to make sure that I go in there and we keep winning games.”

Los Angeles also recalled Peter Budaj from the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League. The 34-year-old Budaj appeared in 60 games last season, posting a record of 42-14-4 with a .932 save percentage, a 1.75 goal-against average.

Losing Quick for a prolonged period is a big early-season blow for the Kings. Quick was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy in 2015-16 with a 2.22 goal-against average and .918 save percentage. It was the second time in his career he was a finalist for the award.

“We all know what Quickie brings for our team and what he’s done here, but we can’t be thinking about that,” forward Tyler Toffoli said following the loss at San Jose. “We’ve got to be positive. Zats played unbelievable coming in today. We’re confident in what he has for our team, and we just have to play our game and shut them down, and like I said, if we’re good in our zone coming out, we’re going to be really good playing in their zone. We have some big bodies that can play down low and play that type of style.”

Quick’s injury is the second major health-related issue that’s already hit the Kings. The team lost forward Marian Gaborik for eight weeks after he injured his foot at the World Cup of Hockey.

– – – – – – –

Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

MORE FROM YAHOO SPORTS