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Kings notes: Day off for Ryan Smyth, Justin Williams ready to return

By Helene Elliott
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The perks of being a veteran: Kings forward Ryan Smyth (pictured at left) was excused from the team’s 90-minute practice today and took a ‘therapy day,’ a team spokesman said. He’s scheduled to return to practice Sunday at El Segundo, before the Kings fly to Phoenix for their game against the Coyotes on Monday.

Justin Williams participated in today’s practice and is expected to play on Monday in his old spot on the top line with Smyth and Anze Kopitar. Wayne Simmonds, who filled in so well during Williams’ absence, will be on the right side with Scott Parse and center Jarret Stoll. Teddy Purcell, a right-handed shooter who had been playing the left side, is back on the right side with Raitis Ivanans and Brad Richardson, while Alexander Frolov, Michal Handzus and Dustin Brown form the third line.

No timetable has been established for getting newly acquired defenseman Randy Jones into the lineup.

-- Helene Elliott

Sports Now
Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

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