Kings' Quick working his way back from injury

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Jonathan Quick reported some progress five weeks to the day after a serious groin injury.

Quick took the ice at the end of the Los Angeles Kings' morning skate Tuesday, before L.A. played the Edmonton Oilers, and did some light work with coaches. Nothing too intense, but the former Conn Smythe-winning goalie said it's going as expected.

"It's all good signs," Quick said. "I've still got a lot of work to do. You just come in and try to make the most of it every day until you can get back to playing again.

"Every day's been a little more intense as far as workload, a little more movement. Obviously today was a little more challenging than yesterday. As long as every day I feel better and better, I'll keep trying to challenge it a little bit more."

Quick spoke to local media for the first time since he was injured in a Nov. 12 game at the Buffalo Sabres on what he said was a routine type of play when he extended himself on a shot.

"It's a motion that I've done thousands of times and it didn't turn into an injury," Quick said.

"That particular day it was a little bit colder than normal in the rink, especially playing in California, it's not usually that cold. And then on top of it, I think I had maybe seven shots going into the third period … they weren't in our end too often.

"You're trying to stay loose, and now you're going on two, two-and-half hours, three hours, where you've only seen seven shots. You make a move that normally would never give you an issue. You stretch your leg out, you put a little weight on it, you can feel it pop. It wasn't good, but I tried to finish the play and see if it's a temporary thing that will go away, but unfortunately it didn't."

Quick, of course, has enjoyed the job Ben Scrivens and Martin Jones have done in his absence. This is the first time since he became a starter in the NHL that he's had to sit and watch games, other than the time he missed because of the birth of his daughter.

"[Scrivens] and [Jones] have stepped in and played spectacularly," he said. "Nothing short of that. Every night we have a chance to win … they've done a great job, and the team's done a great job on the road winning in some tough buildings. Obviously it's great to see, but it's tough to watch too, at the same time, because you want to be part of it."