Among the Free Press’s Helene St. James’ “off-day” notes:
The Wings (23-21-5) had a scheduled day off Sunday, and next play Monday at home against the Los Angeles Kings. Tyler Motte, out since Jan. 7 with an upper-body injury, has practiced three straight days, so he may be nearing a return.
I’m not certain what the Wings are going to do when Motte and Petry return, honestly. Elmer Soderblom’s probably headed back to Grand Rapids, but he looks nearly ready to play in the NHL; Albert Johansson has swiped Petry’s spot on the second defensive pairing, so Petry will have to battle Justin Holl for a spot on the 3rd D pair alongside the surprisingly solid Erik Gustafsson.
As for Monday’s game, the Kings are a bit of a powerhouse at 26-14-and-6, though they’re 2-4-and-1 over the course of their last 7 games, a 3-2 overtime loss to Columbus last night included. I posted an early Wings-Kings preview this morning, noting that defenseman Drew Doughty’s return from a broken leg is imminent…
St. James also posted something of a “morning line” given the Red Wings’ 2-0 victory over the Lightning last night, noting that goaltender Cam Talbot, who pitched a 28-save shutout, gave praise to his defense–and lucky bounces, which were what the Bolts blamed for their loss:
“That’s a team that has a winning pedigree,” Cam Talbot said after snapping the Lightning’s streak of 113 games without a shutout. “They know how to pull out these tight games. Kucherov is sitting there with the puck and he’s got options. You know he’s going to find somebody eventually. So give the guys in front of me a ton of credit, we blocked a lot of shots from the top, did a great job boxing out, let me see most of the pucks. Sometimes you just have to weather the storm and get a lucky bounce and we did a little bit of all that.”
