The injury plagued Detroit Red Wings are about to get a lot healthier.
Leading scorer Henrik Zetterberg headlines a trio of wounded 'Wings scheduled to return to the ice against the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center in Sunshine, Florida on Saturday night.
Also scheduled to appear are left wing Justin Abdelkader and centerman Darren Helm, though the latter has his doubts.
"As nice as it would be, you have to look at the big picture," Helm said of the possibility of returning Saturday. "It doesn't feel 100 percent, good enough to go right now. I think it's something we're going to have to talk about. Trainers, coaches, doc. See how I feel tomorrow. I don't think it was good enough today.".
Helm has been out since suffering a shoulder injury in early December and has been limited to just 16 games on the season, while Abdelkader has been out for two weeks with a concussion.
The big news, however, is Zetterberg returning, an occurrence that has Red Wings' coach Mike Babcock optimistic going forward:
It's been a long time. How many games has he missed? Lots. I just know we need him back," Babcock said on Friday. "I just know we have 19 games to the Olympic break and we need some traction. We need traction in our work ethic, in our in our preparation, in our consistency, in our specialty teams, in our injury situation, we just flat out need traction
There is potentially more good news on the horizon for the Red Wings, as centerman Johan Franzen and goalie Jimmy Howard could be back on the ice in Nashville against the Predators on Monday.
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