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Wings mum on status of Zetterberg and Quincey |
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The Detroit Red Wings offered no updates or any insight into the conditions of captain Henrik Zetterberg and defenseman Kyle Quincey, but neither of Detroit’s injured players was on the ice at practice Sunday.
Detroit coach Mike Babcock sought to play off Zetterberg’s condition, listed as an upper-body injury and believed to possibly be concussion related from a couple of punches to the head he took from Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn, as not a serious situation.
“He and Nike (Gustav Nyquist) were just fighting over who was buying dinner, so I didn’t think it was that bad,” Babcock claimed. “We worked on our power play breakout without him today just in case he isn’t playing.
“We tried to get a little bit organized anyways.”
Others viewed the issue with a more serious tone.
“It’s going to be a big challenge,” left-winger Justin Abdelkader said, looking ahead to the likelihood that they will face the Anaheim Ducks Monday minus Zetterberg. “He’s our leader. He brings so much to the table, not just his on-ice presence.
“It’s an opportunity for other guys to step up. We have to come together here and find ways to win, no matter who’s in the lineup.”
That’s also the approach Babcock chose to take.
“Someone’s go to play against Getzy (Ryan Getzlaf), someone’s got to play against (Ryan) Kesler, someone’s got to play against (Nate) Thompson, (Rickard) Rakell, whatever,” Babcock said. “Play.
“You don’t spend half the time worrying about it. We want Z to play every night, but if he can’t play, someone else has got to play.”
Pulkkinen Uncertain
The Benn family really did a number on the Wings in Saturday’s game. Jamie’s brother Jordie checked Detroit forward Teemu Pulkkinen and left him with a banged up leg and not sure if he’ll be able to go Monday.
“One guy hit me and it hurt just a little bit in my leg, so we’ll see here how it feels tomorrow,” said Pulkkinen, who was on the fence as to whether he’d able to suit up against the Ducks.
“I don’t know. It’s OK right now. We’ll see tomorrow. It’s day by day.”
It’s Been Awhile
According to research conducted by the Elias Sports Bureau, Detroit did something in Dallas on Saturday that no NHL team had done in over 81 years.
The Red Wings became the first team to trail by two (or more) goals in the third period, tie the game and then fall behind by at least two goals again before eventually winning in overtime since Jan. 16, 1934.
That night in Ottawa, after a scoreless first period the Senators jumped to a 2-0 lead on goals by Albert (Battleship) Leduc and Max Kaminsky and carried that advantage into the third frame.
Wasting little time, Toronto tied it on goals by Joe Primeau (3:15) and Harvey (Busher) Jackson (4:20). But then Bill (Flash) Hollett (10:50) and Desse Roche (13:05) restored Ottawa's two-goal lead. The Leafs weren’t done and Charlie Sands (16:00) and Jackson (16:50) scored to make it 4-4 and send the game to OT.
In those days, the overtime period was a full 10-minute session. During the extra period, Ken Doraty scored a hat-trick, netting goals at 1:35, 2:20 and 9:05 and Toronto won 7-4.
Of note, Doraty, Holllett and Roche all played for the Red Wings during their NHL careers.
The game was played in Ottawa before a crowd of 8,000.
A day later, the Wings were still talking about what a wild ride Saturday’s game was for everyone.
“That was one of the craziest games most guys had been a part of,” Nyquist said. “There were so many swings in the game.
“We tie it up and then they score two again. And then we tied it up and win in overtime. It got emotional but it was a fun win.”
So much fun that Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard thought it felt more like the beer leagues than the NHL.
“The only thing that was missing was a cooler of beer on both benches,” Howard said. “It was a pond hockey game.”
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