Los Angeles Kings defenseman Alec Martinez had to exit Monday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks after he was involved in a collision with Melker Karlsson, resulting in a scary wrist injury that required surgery.
As Martinez was diving to the ice in an attempt to knock a loose puck away from his net, Karlsson was engaged with Kings forward Anze Kopitar and was knocked off balance skate-first into Martinez’s arm. Martinez exited the game and, according to the Kings, had to undergo surgery at Keck Medicine of USC to repair a radial artery and two superficial radial nerves.
That sounds absolutely terrifying.
The Kings also announced on Tuesday that Martinez is expected to make a full recovery and that he will be evaluated weekly.
There is no timetable for his return to the lineup.
Here is a look at the play.
The 32-year-old Martinez has spent his entire 11-year career with the Kings and has one year remaining on his contract after this season.
The highlight of his career came during the 2013-14 postseason when he scored the Stanley Cup clinching goal in a Game 5 overtime win against the New York Rangers, giving the Kings their second championship in three years.
Given his age, contract status, and the current state of the Kings’ organization he is one of the players that seemed to be a likely candidate to be traded in the coming months as the team looks to the future. The important thing now, though, is his recovery from a scary injury that did not turn out to be even worse than it did.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.