Alec Martinez is projected to head back to the press box in Game 3 Tuesday night.

He hadn't played since Game 2 of the semifinals against San Jose. Martinez ended up up with a minus-2 rating during his 12:44 of ice time, so it wasn't a successful return to the lineup.

Kings coach Darryl Sutter wants to lean on Alec Martinez more.

"So he's given us 12 minutes. Is 12 minutes enough? No. We need a little more in both ways - quality and quantity," Sutter said. "Whether we like it or not, we are not a veteran defense. Marty.played a grand total of maybe a hundred games or whatever in the NHL. I don't even know. But he's got to play like one of our veterans. It can't be just Robyn and Drew and Slava and Robbie playing like veterans. You need everybody to." Martinez has played in 142 regular season games. Look for him to get more minutes Wednesday night.

Alec Martinez was back in the Los Angeles lineup for Game 3 Saturday.

The Kings went with seven defensemen and it obviously worked as Los Angeles won 1-0 to cut the deficit in half as they trail the Blues two games to one in the best of seven series. It was the first time in over a month that Martinez played and he played 12:45 minutes and had one of two assists on Slava Voynov's game winner. Look for Martinez back in the lineup for Game 4 Monday.

Alec Martinez has been a healthy scratch for his last nine games.

The Kings have found a gem in Jacob Muzzin and has been one of the factors that have forced Martinez into the press box. Just an FYI in case you were wondering what happened to the Kings defenseman.

After being a healthy scratch Tuesday against the Coyotes, Alex Martinez was back in the Kings' lineup against the Sharks Thursday night.

That doesn't mean he should be in your lineup. Martinez was touted as a bit of a sleeper by many entering the season. However, he has not produced much in the way of fantasy stats. Consider Martinez nothing more than an NHL roster filler at the moment. As such, he has no fantasy value.

Alec Martinez has struggled since returning from an upper body injury, according to Kings coach Darryl Sutter.

"Quite honestly, when he got hurt, the team was, quite honest, not playing as well as they should have and he.has to be a bigger part of the solution if he wants to stay in the lineup," Sutter said. We'll see if statements like that motivate Martinez.

Alec Martinez will get back into Los Angeles' lineup Monday night.

"It was just a matter of getting practices in and things like that," said Martinez, who hasn't played since Feb. 11 but is recovered from his upper-body injury. He has one goal and one assist in 11 games this season. Davis Drewiske will draw out of the lineup to make room for him.

Alec Martinez (upper body) has been activated off of the injured reserve list.

Martinez will probably play in Saturday's game, but at the same time, he hasn't been guaranteed a spot. He has been sidelined since Feb. 11.

Alec Martinez (upper body) took part in a full practice on Friday.

Martinez is still on the injured reserve list, so he should still be considered day-to-day for now. He has a goal and an assist in 11 games this season.

Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi said Tuesday that Alec Martinez (upper body) remains on schedule but refused to put a timeline on Martinez's return.

Martinez's has been skating for over a week now and appears close to a return. His initial timetable was two to four weeks and Monday was the two-week mark since Martinez was hurt. As long as there are no setbacks, Martinez should be back by mid-March at the latest.