"Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar left Thursday's 5-4 shootout loss in the third period with an upper-body injury after he was checked head-first into the boards by Dallas Stars captain Brenden Morrow and did not return.

Kopitar barely moved as he lay on the ice for several minutes. Meanwhile, teammate Mike Richards instigated a fight with Morrow, costing the Kings a four-minute power play. The Stars scored on the ensuing man advantage to tie the score, 4-4, and send the game to overtime. Dallas beat L.A. in a shootout as Loui Eriksson scored the only goal.

After the game, Kings coach Darryl Sutter downplayed the injury, saying Kopitar just had a bloody nose.

"He'll probably be fine," Sutter said."