Drew Doughty surprisingly out for the LA Kings against the Canucks

The Los Angeles Kings are looking to keep their win streak going at home on Wednesday night with a game against the Vancouver Canucks. However, they surprisingly are going to be without one of their key players for this game.

Prior to the game, it was announced that defenseman Drew Doughty was out due to a lower-body injury. Doughty had missed most of the season after suffering a broken ankle during the preseason but returned at the end of January.

It didn't seem like there were any lingering effects from the injury and he came back right away and was on the ice for around 25 minutes each game. He would go on to play in the 4 Nations Face-Off and that was really looked to be back playing at the level fans have come to expect.

Doughty returned to the Kings and that strong performance carried over as he had a three-point game in the first game after the 4 Nations Face-Off against the Utah Hockey Club. His absence in this game is certainly surprising since he didn't miss any time ice time against Vegas on Monday night and was on the ice for practice this morning, according to Russell Morgan.

Brandt Clarke with big opportunity in front of him for the Los Angeles Kings

There hasn't been a player impacted more by the return of Drew Doughty than former first-round pick Brandt Clarke. He had been seeing over 15 minutes of ice time earlier in the season but since Doughty's return he has been a healthy scratch twice and the past two games has not had more than 10 minutes of ice time.

However, tonight it appears Clarke is replacing Doughty and will be paired with Joel Edmundson. This is a big chance for Clarke to make a statement and use this game as another example of why he should be on the ice more.

Jim Hiller almost certainly will provide an update after the game tonight and hopefully this is nothing too serious for Doughty or related to the ankle injury from earlier in the season.