Just a day after being forced to place Dustin Penner on injured receiver with a hand injury, the injury bug bit the Kings again, this time regarding Alec Martinez.
Martinez was injured against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, with what was called an upper body injury. LA won that game 5-2. Martinez took a check in the first period, drawing a major penalty, and eventually scored a goal in the game.
To replace Martinez in the lineup, the Kings recalled top defensive prospect Slava Voynov, who returns to LA for his second stint with the Kings this season.
The first time Voynov was up, he was nothing short of impressive, posting a pair of goals and an assist in replacing Drew Doughty for five games. He was a also a plus-3.
As unfortunate as it might be that injuries are making their way around the Kings locker room almost on a daily basis, there is almost certainly a silver lining. It’s not as if Martinez, or Penner, or even Scott Parse were setting the world on fire.
The injuries to the three give an opportunity to both Voynov and Andrei Loktionov to earn a spot in the lineup moving forward, as so many have claimed they deserve. We’ve already seen one strong audition from Voynov, as the Kings were 4-1 with him in the lineup when Doughty was out.
Loktionov skated on the second line in practice on Monday. For him, it’s just a matter of whether he will line up on a wing or in the middle, but he appears to be set for the top six.
The two will being their audition for the Kings on Wednesday, when they host the Ducks. With LA having won just two of their last eight tilts, now is as good a time as any for the pair of youngsters to leave their mark in the lineup and force Terry Murray‘s hand moving forward.
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