Red Wings Team Report

INSIDE SHOTS

The Red Wings believe they have three veteran defensemen capable of logging more minutes and three young defensemen who can assume bigger roles.

They’ll need everybody on the blue line to step up and help compensate for the loss of Niklas Kronwall(notes), who will be out 4-8 weeks with a second- to third-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee, an injury sustained on what the Red Wings said was a dirty knee-on-knee hit by Montreal’s Georges Laraque(notes) on Saturday.

Kronwall, 28, won’t be easy to replace. He is their leading scorer among defensemen (five goals, 13 points) and a big open-ice hitter. He logged a lot of minutes as one of the point men on the second power-play unit and had been taking the first shift during the penalty kill.

“He’s been getting better and better every year, and he’s off to a great start,” general manager Ken Holland said. “It’s a significant loss, but others got to step up.”

Holland said he will not recall anybody from AHL affiliate Grand Rapids for now. He said Nicklas Lidstrom(notes), Brian Rafalski(notes) and Brad Stuart(notes) can log slightly more ice time. Derek Meech(notes), a healthy scratch most of the season, will play regularly and will get some power-play time. Jonathan Ericsson(notes) will get an opportunity to play alongside Lidstrom. And Brett Lebda(notes) will see more action in all situations as well.

“The good news is we got defensemen who can play more minutes,” Holland said. “We wanted to limit the minutes of our players, thinking down the road we might need them (to play more). We haven’t over-taxed anybody.”

Predators 3, Red Wings 1:   The Wings rank 30th and last in the NHL in penalty killing on the road, and it showed. Jason Arnott(notes) and Martin Erat(notes) scored power-play goals to stake Nashville to a 2-0 lead, and the Wings’ slow start (15 shots through two periods) proved costly.

They turned it on in the third period, out-shooting Nashville 16-4, but couldn’t get the equalizer as goaltender Pekka Rinne(notes) came up with several big stops.

NOTES, QUOTES

• The NHL suspended Montreal’s Georges Laraque five games for his knee-on-knee hit that sidelined Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall for 4-8 weeks with a sprained left MCL. The suspension does the Wings no good—they’re without one of their best defensemen for up to two months while Laraque, though one of the best fighters in the league, is a fringe player for a team in the other conference. But the Wings were hoping a suspension would send a message to players that such a play is unacceptable.

• RW Drew Miller(notes) cut Nashville’s lead to 2-1 at 6:38 of the second period with his first goal as a Wing. He made a good move down low, took the puck to the net and fired it past goalie Pekka Rinne from close range. It was Miller’s first goal in 20 games this season, his first in 27 games dating back to last season when he played for Anaheim.

Quote To Note:   “I’m trying to bring energy every night. When things aren’t going well and they shake up the lineup, you got to be able to do what you can do for any line you’re put on.”—Wings forward Drew Miller.

ROSTER REPORT

Goaltenders:   Chris Osgood(notes), Jimmy Howard(notes).

Defensemen:   Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Brad Stuart, Jonathan Ericsson, Brett Lebda, Derek Meech.

First Line:   Todd Bertuzzi(notes), Pavel Datsyuk(notes), Tomas Holmstrom(notes).

Second Line:   Ville Leino(notes), Henrik Zetterberg(notes), Dan Cleary.

Third Line:   Kris Draper(notes), Darren Helm(notes), Patrick Eaves(notes).

Fourth Line:   Brad May(notes), Justin Abdelkader(notes), Drew Miller.

Player Notes:  

• C Justin Abdelkader continues to struggle in the face-off circle. He won only 2-of-9 draws and has won only 40.8 percent of his face-offs for the season.

• LW Todd Bertuzzi leads the team’s forwards with 18 giveaways and also has the lowest shooting percentage among forwards on the top two lines (5 percent). Turnovers and an inability to finish continue to be his biggest problems.

• RW Tomas Holmstrom has cooled off after a hot start. He has gone five games without a point and has only two points (goal, assist) in the last nine games despite being on the first power-play unit.

Medical Watch:  

• D Niklas Kronwall is out 4-to-8 weeks with a sprained left medial collateral ligament suffered Saturday.

• RW Jason Williams(notes) is out until mid-January with a fractured right fibula sustained Nov. 7.

• C Valtteri Filppula(notes) is out until late December with a broken right wrist sustained Oct. 29.

• D Andreas Lilja(notes) is on long-term injured reserve due to concussion-like symptoms. He has been skating but remains out indefinitely.

• LW Johan Franzen(notes) isn’t expected to return until March due to a torn left anterior cruciate ligament, sustained Oct. 8.