As if the mounting losses weren’t problematic enough, now the Detroit Red Wings are dealing with an overcrowded sick bay.
As they ready to face the Vancouver Canucks Saturday in the final game of a four-game road trip that’s seen Detroit go 0-2-1 so far, the Wings found out that they will do so minus two of their top four defensemen.
Mike Green (upper body injury), who left Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss to Calgary after absorbing a punishing hit into the boards from Flames forward Josh Jooris, won’t be able to go Saturday.
The Wings declined to get more specific about the nature of Green’s ailment.
“We’ll he’s out tonight,… Detroit general manager Ken Holland said. “He’s day to day, upper body. We don’t know how bad.
“We’ll get back and see how he feels.…
Meanwhile, Kyle Quincey, who took a shoulder to the head from Calgary forward Sam Bennett, is also out and the Wings confirmed that he is undergoing concussion protocol.
To plug the holes, Jakub Kindl, a healthy scratch Friday, will be reinserted into the lineup and Alexey Marchenko has been recalled from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League.
To make room for Marchenko on the 23-player roster, center Brad Richards, who missed Friday’s game with a back issue, was placed on the seven-day injured reserve list.
“His back’s bothered him all of (training) camp and just felt progressively worse, so we want to be proactive,… Holland explained. “He’s going to go see somebody. Hopefully it’s nothing more than a little bit of time off.
“He’s going to a see a doctor. We’ll know more on Monday or Tuesday.…
After playing much of Friday’s loss with just five defensemen after Green’s injury, the Wings are trying to look at the scenario facing them in a positive light, that it’s a chance for Marchenko to prove he belongs in the NHL on a full-time basis.
“When somebody goes down there’s a door open and somebody’s got to come in and fill it,… Detroit defenseman Brendan Smith said. “It’s an opportunity and sometimes that’s all you need.
“We just need guys to step up and play better. The biggest thing that we’ve been talking about is that our D needed to play better. I thought we did well last night actually. We were a couple of posts or chances away from icing that game and making it 3-1.
“Now we have two guys down right now. That’s a tough one but I think it opens a door. I’ve been saying that for a while. That’s how you get chances to play.
“You never want to see injuries but when someone gets injured you get a chance. That’s how I got my first chance to play in San Jose. It was an injury with Whitey (Ian White). It’s good for people but for our team we obviously want everybody to be healthy. It’s an opportunity and we have these big points now because we didn’t pull it out last game.…
Western Woes Generally, things go swimmingly for the Wings when they go west, but not this time, as they are 0-1-1 on their Western Canadian swing.
It’s been nearly seven years since the Wings came back from an Alberta-British Columbia trip with a solitary point from the three games against Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.
That was during the 2007-08 season. Detroit opened with a 1-0 loss Feb. 22 at Calgary, fell 4-1 the next night in Vancouver and dropped a 4-3 shootout decision Feb. 26 at Edmonton.
On the flip side, the Wings went on to win the Stanley Cup that season.
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