<
>
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Get ESPN+

Examining impact of Voynov's suspension

The effects of a short-handed roster are becoming apparent for the Los Angeles Kings. AP Photo/Chris Szagola

It was really the first night there was a tangible on-ice impact from the Slava Voynov suspension. On Tuesday night in Philadelphia, the Los Angeles Kings dressed just 19 players because of the salary cap implications that come with a suspended player whose salary still counts, mixed in with short-term injuries to Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik and Trevor Lewis.

They then lost 3-2 in overtime to an average Philadelphia Flyers team that ended the Kings' six-game winning streak.

The Kings are successful because they can roll four lines consistently -- and beat you with any one of them. On Tuesday night, they didn’t have four lines to roll.

As he often does, Darryl Sutter boiled it down to the simplest form afterward.

“Well, we had a left winger out, a centerman out, a right winger out and a defenseman out,” he told reporters after the game. “So that’s a quarter of our lineup.”

As colleague Katie Strang pointed out Tuesday, the Kings should get some emergency relief in the way of a CBA clause that allows them to recall a player earning less than $650,000 after playing one game short-handed.

It’s also possible that Kopitar gets healthy in time for the Kings’ back-to-back games with Pittsburgh and Detroit, starting Thursday.

Still, it’s apparent this is going to be an issue for the Kings until it’s resolved in some form