What a busy day at the Joe as the Red Wings prepare for their home opener vs. the Dallas Stars and a 4:30 pm Eastern press conference to officially announce the retirement of
Tomas Holmstrom. More to come on Tomas tomorrow in this blog.
Following last night's much needed shootout victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets,
Ken Holland was busy working the phones to grab a veteran free agent rearguard to attempt to patch up this leaking ship on the blueline. With the unfortunate shoulder injury to
Carlo Colaiacovo last night, he joined
Jakub Kindl and
Jonathan Ericsson in the training room, forcing Holland to acquire 33-year old
Kent Huskins earlier today.
Huskins signed a one-year, one-way, $750,000 contract and will wear #3 tonight for the Red Wings. It goes without saying that he is the definition of a depth defenseman and Detroit's injury situation is the reason as to why he is being brought into the fold. He plays a safe, defensive style on the backend and can help kill penalties for the time being.
Also announced today,
Mikael Samuelsson continues to nurse a sore groin and as a result, the Red Wings called up
Gustav Nyquist from Grand Rapids to play tonight. Certainly many Red Wing fans are hopeful this move is permanent instead of temporary. Nyquist is expected to play alongside Filppula and Franzen on Detroit's 2nd line.
Some other quick points from last night in Columbus:
***Impressive debut by
Brian Lashoff. Granted his miscue in clearing the puck on the penalty kill early in the 3rd period enabled Columbus to tie the game up, he received the praise of Babcock in being granted playing time late in the 3rd period and during overtime.
***
Niklas Kronwall played 28:28 last night. Pretty safe to assume we can expect to see that frequently this season for #55.
***Forget about the fantastic shootout winner by
Damien Brunner. He's got his fair share of scoring opportunities and it is only a matter of time before he bulges the twine for his first official NHL goal.
***Really thought Filppula and Franzen significantly raised their level of play and the Red Wings are so much more dangerous when they have those top two lines rolling.
***
Kyle Quincey continues to disappoint thus far...the Red Wings desperately need him to regain the form he exhibited in L.A. and Colorado.
***
Brendan Smith got caught flat footed when
Cam Atkinson cut in front of him and broke in for a breakaway goal on
Jimmy Howard. Hopefully Smith is a quick learner.
************************************************************************
The Red Wings will be facing a tricky 3rd game in 4 nights tonight and will be seeking the aid of an enthusiastic home crowd to help them get through this difficult contest. Dallas is 1-1-0 thus far on the season with a 4-3 home victory over Phoenix on Saturday night, followed by a difficult 1-0 road loss in Minnesota.
Although Dallas is without contract holdout
Jamie Benn, the Red Wings will remain hard pressed defensively given their skeleton crew on the blueline facing a Dallas offense with the likes of veterans
Ray Whitney,
Jaromir Jagr,
Derek Roy and
Loui Eriksson.
That being said, a Red Wing victory tonight at home would go a long way in getting this team back on course and a couple days to heal and hopefully welcome back some regulars into the lineup for Friday night's tilt vs. Minnesota.
Dallas Stars @ Detroit Red Wings
7:30 Eastern
Fox Sports Detroit
Projected Lineups (subject to change):
Pavel Datsyuk - Henrik Zetterberg - Damien Brunner
Johan Franzen - Valteri Filppula - Gustav Nyquist
Daniel Cleary - Justin Abdelkader - Patrick Eaves
Drew Miller - Cory Emmerton - Jordin Tootoo
Niklas Kronwall - Brian Lashoff
Kyle Quincey - Brendan Smith
Kent Huskins - Ian White
Jimmy Howard
[Tom McCollum]
INJURIES:
Darren Helm (back) - expected return Friday
Todd Bertuzzi (flu) - expected return Friday
Jonathan Ericsson (hip/shoulder) - hopeful to return Friday
Jakub Kindl (groin) - hopeful to return Friday
Carlo Colaiacovo (shoulder) - return unknown
Mikael Samuelsson (groin) - return unknown
Jan Mursak (shoulder) - return unknown
[email protected]
Make sure to follow Mark on Twitter! 
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»