Detroit Red Wings F Justin Abdelkader Placed on Injured Reserve
The Detroit Red Wings Have Been Struggling With Player Injuries Lately. Detroit Is Now Short Seven Players After Forward Justin Abdelkader Joins the Team’s Long Injury List.
The Detroit Red Wings are 11-10-3 this season and land 6th in the Atlantic Division. Detroit hasn’t been off to the start they desired and now has an injury struggle. Now, the team is currently without seven roster players after sidelining F Justin Abdelkader.
Abdelkader suffered an MCL sprain that will keep him sidelined for 2-to-4 weeks. The forward sustained the injury in Detroit’s 2-1 OT loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.
Abdelkader isn’t the first or even the third player to be sidelined this month. The Red Wings have sidelined six players before announcing Abdelkader’s injury.
In the past few weeks, the Detroit Red Wings have sidelined:
- D Brendan Smith with a knee sprain (Nov. 26).
- F Tyler Bertuzzi with a high ankle sprain (Nov. 26).
- G Jimmy Howard with a groin injury (Nov. 25).
- D Alexey Marchenko with a shoulder injury (Nov.20).
- F Darren Helm with a shoulder injury (Nov. 17).
- F Andreas Athanasiou with a knee injury (Nov.11).
Detroit’s Injury Holes
The high number of injuries that Detroit has been facing has created significant holes on the roster. Not to mention the team’s current injury list excludes long-term sidelined F Johan Franzen and F Joe Vitale who will be out most of this season with concussions.
Detroit has been turning to their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, to fill the gaps. Griffins call-ups F Anthony Mantha and D Ryan Sproul have both been performing well since joining the team.
Mantha has three goals and two assists in nine games and Sproul has five points (1 G, 4 A), six hits, and four blocks in 13 games since being called up. Talent from players who step up in times of need like this is what is helping Detroit grab some wins.
Goaltender Petr Mrazek has also been stepping up in Howard’s absence. Hence, Mrazek was a big reason the Red Wings came out on top in their 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Nov.29. Mrazek made 34 saves and posted a save percentage of .971 in the action-packed match.
Detroit can also turn to forwards Dylan Larkin (7 G, 8 P) and Frans Nielson (5 G, 8 A) to keep the team scoring. Forward Henrik Zetterberg, who leads the team with 12 assists, has also been stepping up to keep production going.
The Red Wings have had a lot of players stepping up to fill the holes since the very beginning. Detroit has had a disadvantage due to these injuries but has been trying to stay above in the face of their struggle.
A Rough Road Back to Full Strength
The Red Wings cannot let themselves fall behind because of their injury problem. While the problem is a significant one, the team needs to do their best to hold their own despite the long injury list.
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If Detroit can’t step up enough to keep themselves in good standing, it can cause them even more trouble towards the end of the season. The Red Wings have always been a solid team with strong play, therefore they won’t want to take a backseat this season.
Because the team has the ability to step up, Detroit might be able to keep themselves from suffering from too many losses.
Detroit’s next matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins won’t be an easy one, therefore they’ll have to rely on their top offensive players to get the team motivated on the ice. From there, the Red Wings will continue to embark on their injury-plagued road.
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If the Red Wings can continue to step up, they might be able to grab the wins and points to keep themselves in good standing. Regardless, the road back to a healthy team won’t be an easy one.
In conclusion, Detroit is in for a difficult patch of games but if they keep their determination and their production up, they might be able to pull it off.