Martinez evaluates his return to the lineup

Alec Martinez was among the skaters who took the ice at today’s optional practice in Uniondale, New York. After skating, he met with reporters and Kings broadcasters to provide a sense of where he’s at after returning to the lineup for a back-to-back set.

Alec Martinez, on any noticeable difference between his first two games back:
I think sometimes the second game is actually harder than the first just because you have a lot of energy and you’re really excited to be back. You kind of feed off that adrenaline of not having played in a while, but it was good. I felt a little bit better than I thought I would in terms of my legs and my lungs and all of that. But I think there were a few reads here and there that I could’ve made better or quicker. There is room for improvement, but all-in-all I felt pretty good.

Martinez, on the challenges of returning from an injury:
I think the conditioning is the easiest part. It’s the hardest work, but I think the reads and things like that are the last thing to kind of come back. Maybe the little plays that are often times the difference in hockey games and just making the little plays being the difference of getting it out of the zone and things like that. I think that’s kind of the last thing.

Martinez, on how helpful Matt Greene has been in his return:
Well, I think probably playing with him too and having that familiarity with him definitely helps. Pretty much ever since I’ve been in the league, I’d say I’ve probably played with him 75-percent of the time. Having him back there and communication is key, too. Having played with each other for a while, it certainly helps.

Martinez, on whether it was helpful for him to return on a back-to-back:
I don’t know. I guess you could look at it both ways. I thought I felt pretty good doing it. I guess sometimes you’d rather just be thrown into the fire than ease your way in. Obviously we only have nine games left, so I wanted to get in as soon as I possibly could because this is a really important time of the year, it’s a fun time of the year. You want to play in these games, but you also have to make sure that your game is at a point that you can help the team win and you’re not setting anyone back.

Martinez, on gaining comfort making reads throughout the game:
Yeah, throughout the game there are specific plays where you say, ‘OK.’ You do a couple positive things. You just try to keep building on it. I think getting hit, too, is good to get back into it. [Reporter: Like the second shift in New Jersey, when the guy hit the boards?] Yeah, just to know, to get over that mental hump to know that you’re OK, that you can sustain a big hit or something again. I think that goes for any injury. Any time you come back from an ankle, knee, shoulder, you’re going to tweak it. It might sting for 30 seconds, but then it goes away. It’s comforting, I guess, or it makes you feel a little bit better that you’re good, that you can handle it.

Martinez, on any relief knowing he was fine after the game in New Jersey:
Yeah, obviously you’re a little bit sore. Really the only way to get back into game shape is playing games and the little things of banging and crashing, and maybe the slash or the blocked shot. You’ll feel a little bit more after the first game when you don’t play in a while than once you’re really in the groove. So that was good. You’re sore, but it’s a good kind of sore because it means that you’re back at things again.

On seeing Andrej Sekera play at ice level:
He’s awesome. I guess he played in the Eastern Conference ever since I’ve been in the league, so we weren’t too familiar. … You’re obviously aware of him. He’s a really good player having played against him, but I guess I wouldn’t be as familiar with him than if he’d played in the Western Conference or something like that. But now seeing him, he’s an awesome player. He’s a huge asset for us. He can play that off-side. I know firsthand that’s not very easy all the time. But he’s been awesome, a great guy off the ice, too.