Detroit Red Wings fans can breathe a little easier thanks to the latest update from head coach Todd McLellan concerning the health of defenseman Simon Edvinsson.
Edvinsson departed Wednesday evening’s game against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome after he was felled by a lower-body injury after blocking a shot, and he was subsequently ruled out for the remainder of the contest.
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The Red Wings called up defenseman Erik Gustafsson from the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins under emergency conditions on Thursday morning, sparking fears that Edvinsson could be unavailable because of his injury.
However, according to McLellan, Edvinsson is with the team in Edmonton for Thursday evening’s tilt against the Oilers and is expected to suit up.
“The latest on Simon is that he’s in there (points toward dressing room) and is getting ready to play,” McLellan explained to reporters at Rogers Place.
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Edvinsson had already missed time earlier this season because of an illness. He’s appeared in 28 games so far in the campaign and ranks second overall behind only Moritz Seider in total ice time per outing, and has three goals with six assists along with a positive plus-six rating.
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During Wednesday’s game, the Red Wings built up a comfortable 4-0 lead by the end of the second period and appeared well in position to cruise to another shutout victory like they enjoyed on Monday against the Vancouver Canucks.
However, the Flames made life extremely tense for the Red Wings by scoring three third-period goals. While Detroit ultimately pulled out a 4-3 win, there wasn’t much time to work on the things that went wrong against the Flames with another game to play less than 24 hours later.
“You can’t fix everything without a practice, and we addressed a few of the areas that we liked in the game last night, and there was a lot to like,” McLellan said about the club’s preparation for Thursday’s game. “But there were also some areas that we needed to clean up. Anything that we thought would be really relevant to today’s game against Edmonton in that short period of time, we tried to blend together for our pre-game meeting.”
Red Wings Hold Off Flames With 4-3 Victory in Calgary
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The Red Wings and Oilers are scheduled to drop the puck just after 9:00 p.m. ET.
It’s their second and final meeting of the season, barring a matchup in the Stanley Cup Final; Detroit defeated Edmonton at Little Caesars Arena on Oct. 19 by a 4-2 final score, which included the first career goal of rookie Emmitt Finnie.
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