In a freak play late in Monday’s game, Los Angeles Kings defenseman Alec Martinez dove to the ice to try to prevent a puck from onto the stick of a San Jose Sharks player.
At the same time, Anze Kopitar and Sharks forward Melker Karlsson were mid-collision. As Karlsson’s feet slid out from under him as he lost his footing, his skates made a path directly into Martinez’s arm.
Martinez goes to the locker room after a collision with Karlsson: https://t.co/Z4n0GOLGGh#SJSvsLAK #GoKingsGo #LAKings #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/OkqS4Xulbc
— Eric (@Kingsgifs) November 26, 2019
Martinez left the game immediately afterwards, and today, the Kings announced that he suffered a laceration to his right arm and subsequently underwent surgery to repair the radial artery and two superficial radial nerves.
For those of you as unfamiliar with the anatomy of the arm as I am, here’s a helpful diagram:
The radial artery and superficial radial nerves run along the underside of the arm closest to the thumb, which matches the positioning of Martinez’s arm when Karlsson’s skate made contact with it.
Another look at what happened to Martinez https://t.co/7ZZvarNbJb#SJSvsLAK #GoKingsGo #LAKings pic.twitter.com/ZxYzl0CbBl
— Eric (@Kingsgifs) November 26, 2019
The surgery was deemed successful and while no timetable has been put on Martinez’s return, calling it “week to week” may be generous.
In terms of immediate replacements, the Kings have Kurtis MacDermid, who has been a frequent healthy scratch as of late. This may also be an opportunity for a player like Kale Clague, Mikey Anderson, or Paul LaDue to get called up. Per reports from today’s Kings practice, Derek Forbort may also be nearing a return, pending a conditioning assignment to the Ontario Reign.
Best wishes to Alec Martinez in his recovery!