Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen posted a column which discusses the status of Marc Staal, who’s been placed under the NHL’s COVID protocol…
Coach Jeff Blashill said it is “yet to be determined” how long Marc Staal will be out. The Red Wings take a five-game winning streak into Tuesday’s home game against Nashville.
“We are all kind of crossing our fingers and hoping that nobody else tests positive,” Blashill said. “But we will see.”
Both the Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders ended up with so many COVID-19 cases recently that the NHL had to postpone some games.
“I would say we are under enhanced measures, some of which are spelled out in the agreement as we moved into the season.” Blashill said.
And Allen took note of Blashill’s remarks regarding Gustav Lindstrom, who has a lower-body injury, as well as Lindstrom’s would-be replacement in Dan Renouf:
“The last game Danny [Renouf] played for us he played really good,” Blashill said. “The depth throughout your organization becomes critical. It gets tested throughout the season. Certainly with Covid, it gets tested even further.”
The Red Wings continued to play well, even after Dekeyser and Bertuzzi test positive. “When Bert got it, I was a little bit worried because it was right before a game,” Blashill said. “Does that deflate you a little bit when you get that kind of news right before a game? I thought our guys reacted well to it. So far we have reacted well to it.”
