Kings goaltender Copley to miss rest of season after knee surgery

LOS ANGELES -- Goaltender Pheonix Copley will miss the rest of the season for the Los Angeles Kings after he underwent knee surgery earlier this week. The Kings made the announcement Saturday.

The ACL reconstruction procedure was performed by Dr. Frank Petrigliano at Keck Hospital of USC.

Copley suffered the knee injury during practice Dec. 15 and was immediately placed on long-term injured reserve.

The Kings are third in the Pacific Division with 46 points, but have gone winless in their past four games, including a pair of losses in shootouts.

Copley is 4-1-2 with a 3.16 goals-against average in eight starts. Cam Talbot, who was selected to the All-Star Game earlier this week, has a 14-8-3 mark. Among goaltenders with at least 20 games played, he leads the league with a 2.10 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.

David Rittich will be the primary backup for the rest of the season. He is 2-0-1 in three starts since Copley's injury with a 1.62 GAA and .926 save rate.