Martinez checks in from Finland, talks first goal with TPS

You know the old saying – tenth time’s a charm.

Well, at least it was for Alec Martinez.

Playing in his tenth game with TPS Turku earlier today, the 25-year old defenseman finally scored his first goal in Finland.

“Yeah, it took long enough!” Martinez said when we caught up with him a few hours after he found the back of the net, giving his team a dramatic 1-0 win in overtime.

“(Lauri) Korpikoski made a good play to me at the point, I made a little move to get a lane to the net and (Corey) Locke did a great job screening the goalie,” he went on to say, while describing how things unfolded.  “I’m not sure if the goalie saw it, but that’s a testament to Locker’s screen.”

The goal was his second point since arriving, as he was credited with an assist two games ago.  To date, TPS has a 6-4 record with Martinez in the line-up and they’ve now won three straight games.

“It obviously feels good to get my first of the year and I’m glad to have the monkey off my back,” said the Michigan native.  “Hopefully our team can start to get on a roll here.  We certainly have the players to do it and with the scoring system the way it is here – three points for win in regulation and two for an OT win – if you get on a run, you can find yourself jumping up in the standings pretty quickly.”

Here are highlights from today’s game, including the goal…

Before we were done, Martinez threw in one more thing – “Go Tigers!”

It wasn’t that surprising, considering the Kings blueliner was planning on returning home to Detroit to watch some baseball playoff games before getting the call from TPS.

So, maybe it’s his fault the Tigers lost in the World Series.

Perhaps they needed him there to cheer the team on.

“I’m still a proud Tigers fan. But, I really don’t want to talk about it,” he jokingly quipped.

Prior to heading overseas, Martinez gave MayorsManor an exclusive interview talking about the process he went through to sign in Finland and shared some thoughts as he was packing to leave. Click here to read that article now.

Follow @mayorNHL

RELATED ARTICLES:

Martinez responds to Dustin Penner’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’ claims

CONFIRMED: Dustin Brown heading overseas, reuniting with Marc Crawford

‘Red Wings fan’ Alec Martinez talks about scoring his first post-season goal