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With Martinez out, Kings need more out of McBain

Alexander Steenj, Jamie McBain

St. Louis Blues’ Alexander Steen (20) and Los Angeles Kings’ Jamie McBain (5) reach for the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Bill Boyce)

AP

Even for Drew Doughty, the amount of work he’s getting is troubling.

Doughty was already asked to log 28:01 minutes per contest during the regular season without a single game off and now he’s averaging 31:11 minutes in the playoffs. To be clear, that puts Doughty on track to record a higher minutes per game average than he has in any of the Kings’ prior playoff runs.

The absence of Alec Martinez (undisclosed) is a factor, but regardless of the rationale, one has to wonder if fatigue will become an issue for Doughty if this continues. That puts pressure on Jamie McBain to step up so that Kings coach Darryl Sutter can use him more.

After McBain logged just 5:42 minutes on Monday, Sutter seemed to acknolwedge that he needed more out of the 28-year-old defenseman.

“I don’t think you’ll go very long in a series, whether it’s whoever you’re talking about, with guys that are only playing five-to-10 minutes,” Sutter told LA Kings Insider. “You might be able to stretch a series out, but you won’t win it.”

Game 4 against the San Jose Sharks is set to start at 10:30 p.m. ET tonight. The Sharks will be looking to take a 3-1 series lead on their home ice. Meanwhile, Martinez is back in Los Angeles.