LA Kings activate Corey Perry for his debut and put captain Anze Kopitar on injured reserve

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ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Los Angeles Kings have activated forward Corey Perry from injured reserve to begin his 21st NHL season.

The Kings also put captain Anze Kopitar on injured reserve after his 20th NHL season was interrupted last week by a foot injury.

The 40-year-old Perry will be in the lineup when the Kings visit the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.

Perry signed with the Kings as a free agent last summer, but the 2011 NHL MVP injured his knee while skating before the start of training camp in September. He underwent surgery and managed to return before the team's initial prognosis of six to eight weeks of recovery time.

Perry spent his first 14 seasons with the Kings’ archrivals, the Anaheim Ducks, before moving on to Dallas, Montreal, Tampa Bay, Chicago and Edmonton. He has played in the Stanley Cup Final in five of the past six seasons, but lost each time.

Perry had 448 goals and 487 assists in his career.

Kopitar is week to week after getting hit in the foot by a deflected puck during a game against Minnesota earlier this month. The Slovenian forward announced last month that he will retire at the end of the season.

The Kings are off to a rough start, going 1-3-2 with a four-game losing skid as they prepare to face the Blues on the first stop of a five-game road trip.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL