DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings will be missing some size, grit and other elements Friday when they host the NHL-leading New York Rangers without Michael Rasmussen.
Rasmussen is out with an upper-body injury that might also idle him for Sunday’s game against Buffalo.
The 6-6 Rasmussen is one of the team’s top forecheckers and a regular on the penalty kill.
“We’ve had a little success there getting that line back together — him, (Andrew) Copp and (Christian Fischer), eat up really good minutes,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “You talk about the dynamic and what it looks like matchup-wise, it’s a different dynamic when those guys are in. (Rasmussen) gives us some hard (play) and some size. He’s around the net, he’s helping drive his line off the forecheck.
“That will be a miss for us. We’ll feel that a little bit. We’ll probably slide (Joe) Veleno in there and you hope Joe can give us very similar type of play as far as some size, skating and getting to those hard areas.”
Rasmussen has a career-best 33 points and plus-8 rating. He was injured midway through the third period of Monday’s 4-2 victory at Tampa Bay. This will be the first game he has missed all season. He is listed as day-to-day.
Veleno played only 4:42 against the Lightning, getting just two shifts in the first period and one in the second before returning after Rasmussen got hurt. He has logged less than 10 minutes in three of the past four games.
“You’re seeking consistency from him,” Lalonde said. “The first time Dylan (Larkin) was out, there were some games (Veleno) was at 20-22 minutes, playing one or two center.
“There’s just some inconsistencies in his game. Last game it got away from us a little bit in that he only had a handful of minutes, but Tampa is a different animal on the road. Every time I was ready to have him up, (Braydon) Point and (Nikita) Kucherov were coming out and then the special teams started rolling. We kind of got into a little rhythm. But early in the game, he turns the puck over and it ends up in our zone for 90 seconds against their top guys.
“He’s showing flashes of some elite hockey and then there’s some flashes of his game where it’s not where any of us want it to be. It’s just consistency, because it’s all there — the tools, he can skate.”
Eating points
The Red Wings appreciate this three-day break following a tough stretch of five on the road, where they gained four points (1-2-2).
“We haven’t had a breather like this in a while,” Lalonde said. “Opportunity for a bit of reset, especially after that road trip, which we knew all along was going to be difficult. So, reset’s good but you kind of want to take a little bit of that momentum and energy from that win in Tampa. It doesn’t get any easier, we’re playing arguably the best team in the Eastern Conference on Friday. But it’s about us and trying to eat points.
“I give our guys a ton of credit. They’ve battled. They’ve made the uncomfortable look comfortable on the road on that trip. They took points in three of the last four games against that type of competition. They’ve put themselves in a spot to stay in this, which is a really good sign. Now it’s what we do with it come Friday.”
Gregory Daniels is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, he explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture. Gregory enjoys staying ahead of the curve and sharing emerging trends with his readers.
