Marian Gaborik is hanging out with the Kings, but there’s no firm timetable on when he’ll return to their lineup.Gaborik is set to mi s his fourth straight game on Thursday night with an undisclosed injury believed to be in the groin/abdominal region.Re: Gaborik, who has been watching skate, it’s likely he’ll start skating early next week. DS said he didn’t know if he’d join team on trip. Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) It’s early, and Gaborik dealing Green Bay Packers Sleepwear Underwear with injuries is nothing new, but the Kings certainly appear to need him. in the offseason; Gaborik adds a goal-scoring punch that the Kings tend to lack, and he makes star center Anze Kopitar even better:When Kopitar was away from Gaborik, LA controlled 61.7 percent of all five-on-fiveshots. That’s great. When Kopitar played with Gaborik, that number spiked to 65.7, which is better than great. Kopitar was on the ice for more goals-against when he played with Gaborik, but the simultaneous increase in Bart Starr Jersey production is impo sible to ignore.Kopitar and Justin Williams did a lot right together. That said, they struggled toturntheir po se sion domination into goals. So, while the opposition scored a little more frequentlyagainst Gaborik-Kopitar-Williams, the inverse was true, too; without Gaborik, Kopitar was on the ice for about 0.8 Kings goals per 20 minutes of five-on-five play. Add Gaborik to the mix, and thatdoubled, to 1.64. That’s a lot.That’s only truer now. On the season and remember, we’re just six games in the Kings Kylin Hill Jersey have controlled an un-King-like 47.6 percent of all 5-on-5 shot attempts, which is 23rd in the league. That’s a nearly 10-percent drop from last season, when their 56.8 led the league. That’ Amari Rodgers Jersey s how they win Stanley Cups.Not all of that is because of Gaborik’s absence, but his positive effect on Kopitar and Williams, who have largely played with Mike Richards over the last three games,shouldn’t be ignored; via ,both of their shot shares have dipped without him (Kopitar from 54.1 percent to 52.5, Williams from 58.5 to 49.5).Their goal-scoring rates have, predictably, dropped as well; when on the ice together, LA scores 50.0 percent of all 5-on-5 goals. Away from Gaborik, that dipsto 33.2 percent for Kopitar and 25 Steven Wirtel Jersey .0 percent for Williams.Six games of stats isn’t much to base conclusions upon, but it suggests what we already know; the Kings will need Gaborik come spring. Gla s half-full: He could be back soon, and it’s October. Gla s half-empty: we’re talking about Marian Gaborik and groin injuries.