A tale of two Kings defensemen …

Willie Mitchell practiced Monday with his teammates for the first time since undergoing surgery to repair torn meniscus in his knee. He traveled with the team to Denver to continue his workouts, but it’s unclear when he might make his season debut. He suffered a setback while skating during the lockout a few days after Christmas.

“Just to be out there with the guys and skate, that’s what you love to do, so it’s nice to be out there,” Mitchell said after the Kings’ 75-minute practice before they departed for Denver and the start of a three-game trip Tuesday against the Colorado Avalanche.

“I felt good,” Mitchell added. “I didn’t really get into any major battles or anything like that. That will probably be the next step, but so far, so good. Just continue and try to keep getting better every day. You just hope the inflammation stays out of the knee. I don’t want to talk to you guys too long. There’s an ice bag waiting for me.”

Matt Greene suffered what Kings coach Darryl Sutter called a “mid-body injury” and didn’t practice with his teammates. Greene, praised by Sutter for his play against the Blackhawks, was sent to see a team doctor and his status for Tuesday’s game was uncertain. It wasn’t clear when he was injured or what body part was hurt.

“Greene came in banged up, couldn’t come in today and saw the doctor,” Sutter said. “Mid-body. I don’t know what you call that. We’ll see. Once we see what happened, we’ll let you know what it is. He was one of the guys who played hard for us (in Saturday’s loss to the Chicago Blackhawks), so there’s a chance he’s going to get banged up.”