Kings coach Darryl Sutter talks about Drew Doughty, but not about his injury

Kings coach Darryl Sutter smiled when asked Wednesday about defenseman Drew Doughty’s plea for more ice time before Game 3 on Tuesday. Doughty leads the Kings in ice time in the playoffs, averaging 25 minutes, 51 seconds. He said he’d play 40 minutes per game if the Sutter would let him.

Sutter wouldn’t address the shoulder injury that forced Doughty to sit out the final four regular-season games and sent him to the dressing room for an examination during the Kings’ loss to the Sharks on Tuesday at Staples Center. Sutter would talk about Doughty’s toughness.

“He wants to play and that’s a good thing,” Sutter said. “I like those guys who try to stay out there and are not trying to get off because of who’s on the ice. He’s a guy who wants to go back out and not come off the ice. That’s a good trait to have.”

Sutter also said of Doughty: “He’s done a lot at a young age. He’s got to do for us what (Marc-Edouard) Vlasic does for them (the Sharks). That’s kind of how you match it up. … That’s what those guys who win championships, or are big parts of a team’s success, that’s why they are like that. We can all sit there and watch and say, ‘Oh, he can really skate or he can really shoot or whatever.’ But there’s something else special about top players. That’s why they’re all top players because there’s something else there.”

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