Martinez’s play a positive

Those looking for positives in the Kings’ play of late can point to…well, not much, but there is, at least, the play of Alec Martinez. Called up last week, and put into a high-profile pairing with Drew Doughty, Martinez has proved to be capable, and looks far more poised, with and without the puck, than he did in his four-game stint with the Kings last season. Martinez has played 22 and 18 minutes, respectively, in his two games and has a minus-2 rating but scored his first NHL goal last Wednesday against Montreal. Martinez has earned solid praise from coach Terry Murray and is expected to continue his partnership with Doughty tonight.

MURRAY: “I thought he was really good (against Chicago). I really like the pop he’s got in his legs. He’s an excellent skater. His play with the puck is real good, and he looks like he’s confident in his own zone. That’s one of the areas that he’s always seemed to have an issue with. To me, it’s the same as Randy Jones, when we had him here last year. He was exactly the same way in Philly. If a puck went into the net, it would take three or four days before he could recover from that. There’s a little bit of (Martinez) there. The one thing he needs to know is, whenever you’re going to play in the NHL, there is going to be a time when you’re going to be on the ice and the puck is going to go in the net on you. You’re going to be out there, but you need to know that I need you for the next shift. Get back, get going, put it behind you and move along right away. To me, that’s where he’s at right now, a very confident player.”