Joakim Andersson last played in an NHL game on Nov. 14, but the last thing he figures he can do as he returns to the Detroit Red Wings’ lineup for Saturday’s game at Joe Louis Arena against the Nashville Predators is play like a guy who hasn’t played in the last nine games.

“Yeah, it’s not easy, especially right now, when you haven’t played in 8-9 games,” Andersson admitted. “It’s different when you do the bag skates and you’re in the gym, it’s different than playing hockey.

“I’ve just got to go in and play confident. That’s the thing. You’ve got to use your skill, whatever that is, when you come back. You just can’t play too safe.

“It can’t show that you’ve been off too long.”

Staying ready to go while sitting is a challenge for any athlete, but one of the reasons the Wings like Andersson is that he’s displayed an aptitude for remaining on top of his game even when he isn’t getting in games to hone his skills.

“Some guys are good at it and some guys aren’t,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “Some guys are able to keep a positive outlook on life and are able to not let it grind them down, keep their confidence up and Andy’s one of those guys.

“He has that type of personality where his confidence isn’t swayed by whether he’s playing or not, his outlook on life isn’t swayed. It’s obviously more fun when you’re playing but sometimes get really down. He seems to be able to handle himself really well.

“That’s one of the reasons why he’s been real attractive to us here. We know he is what I’d term a great pro. When he doesn’t play for stretches and then goes in he plays really well.”

Andersson will seek to fill the defensive void left by the absence of forward Drew Miller, one of Detroit’s top penalty killers, who will miss six weeks with a fractured jaw.

“Andy’s played well when he’s played this year,” Blashill said. “He hasn’t got much opportunity and sometimes it gets misconstrued when a guy comes out of the lineup that he hasn’t played well. It might just mean we think that other guys are ahead of him but it doesn’t mean that he’s not a very good hockey player.

“I think Andy is a very good hockey player. I think he’s a winner. I think he’s a very good penalty killer. I think he’s very accountable defensively and he can win faceoffs. I think one of the underrated things about Andy is that he’s actually a really good passer of the puck.

“He can really make tight area passes. That’s something he did for me in the American League and that’s something I’ve seen him do in the National Hockey League.

“We hope Andy can come in and be really good. I think teams have to rely on their depth through the year and this is where we’d like an opportunity to rely on our depth and have him pop in and be real good.”

On The Board
Darren Helm was the latest Wing to eliminate the goose egg from next to his name in the goals column when he scored Thursday against Arizona.

“I’m happy I got it,” Helm said. “Hopefully I can look forward to getting some more.”

Helm felt his overall game was coming around and it was just a matter of time until the puck went in for him.

“Yeah, I feel like I’m playing a lot better,” Helm said. “Hadn’t had the results up until (Thursday) night, but the games – at least the last four or five – I thought I’ve been doing a pretty good job skating or doing things outside of scoring or producing. I’m doing those things well. It was nice to get a couple of breaks and get a couple of points.”

While Helm might not be known first and foremost as a goal scorer, no NHL player wants to be known as a guy without a goal.

“They’re humans,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “I think to score, he’s got to feel good about it, it’s got to take some pressure off. His process and his game’s been real good but there’s nothing like getting one and get that monkey off your back a little bit.”

Iron Men
Now that Miller is out and the end of his consecutive games streak will come at 190, Gustav Nyquist is Detroit’s new iron man. Nyquist has appeared in 152 games in a row.

After Nyquist, Tomas Tatar (143 games), Luke Glendening (131) and Jonathan Ericsson (108) have all hit triple digits in their current streaks of consecutive games played.

The Red Wings franchise record for consecutive games played is 548, set by Alex Delvecchio from Dec. 13, 1956 through Nov. 11, 1964.

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