Kings defenseman Denis Gauthier has right foot injury

Gauthier will have an MRI exam Monday to determine whether his right foot is broken. Coach Terry Murray ruled him out of Monday's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Defenseman Peter Harrold will play in Gauthier's place.

"We'll know more tomorrow, but Denis had quite a bit of swelling today," Murray said. "Peter played well in his last game, so we'll let him go."

Gauthier was injured blocking a Bret Seabrook shot eight minutes into the third period. He did not return to the game. Gauthier was walking around in a medical boot today.

"He had time to set up a shot and I saw it coming," Gauthier said. "I've blocked a million shots like that in games. It's part of the job. It is one of those things where I won't be able to tell how bad it is or how good it is until the MRI."

Murray said that he did not see the need to recall a defenseman at this time. The Kings, though, did make room on the roster by sending center Brian Boyle to minor league Manchester (N.H.) today.

"We got six defensemen here ready to play," Murray said.

Boyle needs work

Boyle continues to perplex Kings officials, mostly through his lack of consistency. He showed flashes of the player Murray would like him to be, but was a healthy scratch the last two games.

"We need a lot more from him," Murray said. "He needs to go play and find the kind of game that is going to be there day in and day out in the National Hockey League."

Murray said that he had several conversations with Boyle in recent days and the two watched game tapes together. Among the things that Murray would like to see from the 6-foot-7, 252-pound Boyle is more aggressiveness.

"I critiqued [his play] and, in my mind, he has a very good understanding of what I need from him," Murray said. "He is going to play [at Manchester] and have a chance to put points on the board, but I want him to keep his focus on the area of the game I talked about with him."

Foster is a Times staff writer.

chris.foster@latimes.com