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More minutes for Doughty? Kings’ Martinez (finger) out one week

Los Angeles Kings v Philadelphia Flyers

Alec Martinez

NHLI via Getty Images

After getting struck by a puck and undergoing pinky finger surgery, L.A. defenseman Alec Martinez will miss a week’s worth of action, Kings GM Dean Lombardi said (per LA Kings Insider).

Martinez, hurt during last Thursday’s loss to Dallas, sat out Saturday’s 3-2 OT win over Anaheim -- a game in which Drew Doughty played a season-high 32:21, the most logged in a regular season game since drawing 33:25 in a 2-1 overtime loss at Edmonton on January 24, 2013.

It also marked the fifth time in the last six games Doughty’s eclipsed 30 minutes. Last week, Brough wrote about that heavy workload and how it concerned head coach Darryl Sutter.

“He has been playing a lot of minutes,” coach Darryl Sutter said of Doughty. “Do we like that? No. But that’s where we’re at. You know what? I look at that all the time, too. It’s too many minutes. He’s going to tell you he’s fine with it, but over the long haul, that’s too many.”

Martinez will be out for L.A.'s two games this week -- tomorrow versus Florida, Thursday versus the ‘Canes -- but could be back in action on Saturday against the Stars.

In the meantime, it’ll be interesting to see how Sutter utilizes the newly-signed Jamie McBain. McBain hasn’t been used much in his first three games as a King; after getting 11:47 TOI in his first outing against Anaheim, he’s seen his ice time drop to 10:04 (against the Stars) and 8:20 (in Saturday’s win over the Ducks).

In other news pertaining to the Kings’ defense, the NHL has yet to reach a salary cap agreement for suspended blueliner Slava Voynov. His $4.17M hit remains on the books.