LA Kings make Marian Gaborik healthy scratch

The Los Angeles Kings made sniper Marian Gaborik a healthy scratch for the team’s Sunday game against the Boston Bruins.

Since his return from a foot injury suffered during the World Cup of Hockey, the 34-year-old Gaborik has struggled to find his game. He has just one goal and three assists in nine games this season and has seen his ice-time drop of late.

After the game, Kings coach Darryl Sutter confirmed Gaborik didn’t play due to a coach’s decision. The Kings lost 1-0 to the Bruins.

“We have that right in the locker room as players and coaches to have high expectations of players in terms of how they play,” Sutter said.

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In Los Angeles’ Friday game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Gaborik played 11:05 of action – his lowest total of the year.

This meant Devin Setoguchi, who signed with the Kings off a PTO at the start of the year in part because of Gaborik’s injury, drew into the lineup for his first game since Dec. 10.

Gaborik’s further drop in production has to be troubling for the Kings, a team that’s currently ranked 15th in the NHL in goals per-game at 2.60. Last season he had 12 goals in 54 games played after 27 in 69 games the previous year. Gaborik is in the third season of a seven-year, $34.125 million contract. In 942 career NHL games, Gaborik has 387 goals.

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Los Angeles forward Dustin Brown also drew out of the lineup, ending his consecutive games streak at 207.

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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

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