Looking back at the Red Wings and looking at Matt Greene’s back ...
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A few more notes from the Kings’ preparations for tonight’s game against the Red Wings at Staples Center:
Defenseman Matt Greene, who missed most of Wednesday’s practice because of a sore back but felt better after getting treatment and plans to play tonight, laughed at the suggestion that his woes stemmed from having to carry the Kings on his back.
‘I don’t think one goal and four assists is carrying anything. It’s not carrying anybody too far,’ he said, smiling. ‘That definitely was not the case. I’m more worried about Jack [Johnson] and Drew [Doughty] the other night playing 27 minutes. They played a lot of minutes.
‘Maybe it’s from riding on their shoulders.’
Greene, a native of Grand Ledge, Mich., said he wasn’t motivated to play by the knowledge that tonight’s game will be televised back home so his parents can see him.
‘They may not even be watching this one,’ he said. ‘Every game’s important right now and if you can play, you want to play. You want to do whatever you can to help.’
Coach Terry Murray said defenseman Randy Jones, who suffered an upper-body injury Dec. 15, is very close to returning and could be in the lineup for the Kings’ next game, against St. Louis on Saturday night at Staples Center. Defenseman Alec Martinez, who was recalled from Manchester of the American Hockey League on Wednesday, will play tonight, Murray said. Martinez started the season with the Kings but was hurt in his first game and was sent to Manchester; this is his second recall.
‘I’ve definitely been racking up my air miles lately. It’s good to be back,’ said Martinez, a native of Rochester Hills, Mich.
Murray was asked how strange it felt for the Kings to have to look behind them in the standings to find the Red Wings instead of looking up at them, and he agreed that it’s an unusual situation. The Kings were seventh in the West with 53 points through Wednesday’s games and the Red Wings were ninth with 48 points but had played one fewer game than the Kings and eighth-ranked Nashville. The Red Wings were expecting to have Dan Cleary and Henrik Zetterberg in their lineup tonight after both had suffered shoulder injuries.
‘It hasn’t happened for any team in the league over the last 15 years very often. They’ve been a great team for a long period of time,’ Murray said. ‘We respect the fact that they’ve had a lot of key injuries. Top players are out of the lineup. It’s tough sometimes to get it to where you want it to be.
‘I know they’ve got a couple of guys coming back in tonight, so we just have to make sure that we’re ready to play our game. that’s the most important thing for me.’
More later at www.latimes.com/sports.
-- Helene Elliott