Lidstrom skates again; Howard out for Wings

DETROIT — It was a mixed bag of news at Detroit Red Wings practice Tuesday.

Captain Nick Lidstrom skated for the second day in a row, goalie Jimmy Howard didn't practice because his groin has flared up again and Ty Conklin will start in net Wednesday in New York against the Rangers if he clears re-entry waivers.

Other than that, it was just a typical day for the Wings.

"We're hopeful that he (Lidstrom) might be ready Saturday," Wings coach Mike Babcock said after Tuesday's practice. "I'm not certain. If not Saturday, then next week.

"Big E (Jonathan Ericsson, broken wrist) and Kuba (Jakub Kindl, strained oblique) have got to be coming eventually."

Lidstrom, who is recovering from a bone bruise in his left ankle, said that he didn't feel better or worse after Tuesday's practice. He's still listed as day to day and wouldn't speculate on when he'd return.

Lidstrom will travel to New York and continue to skate with the team, which is an encouraging sign.

"As far as my foot, it's about the same," he said. "As far as my stick-handling, it's starting to feel better.

"It's important to get the groins going again when you haven't been on the ice for a long time, trying to get the body used to skating again, and that will take some time.

"I can't put a timetable on it when it will be good again. I just have to kind of take it day by day now. I've been anxious for quite some time now. Hopefully, it's a little bit better every day I wake up, but it has been getting better.

"It just takes time. That's the problem."

As upbeat as the Wings are about Lidstrom finally being on the mend, their goaltending situation could become a concern if Howard's tweaked groin turns into a major issue and Conklin doesn't clear waivers.

Conklin can be claimed by another team any time before noon Wednesday. If he is, then the Wings will start rookie Jordan Pearce in New York.

Backup goalie Joey MacDonald is suffering from back spasms. He had an MRI on Monday and said that he was relieved the results showed no bulging disk.

"It's a little better than it was four or five days ago," MacDonald said. "You can still feel it. It's not a big improvement, but I happy knowing it's not a disk."

MacDonald was scheduled to be evaluated by a back specialist Tuesday and hoped to get a more definitive timeline on when he'll be able to play again.

Babcock was uncertain of exactly how and when Howard reaggravated his groin. It happened at some point during Monday's 5-3 loss to Washington.

"I don't think it's anything major," Babcock said. "It's just some tightness. (Team doctors are) just trying to be cautious."

If Pearce does start against the Rangers, the former Notre Dame goalie and aspiring medical student says he'll be ready.

"Hockey's hockey," Pearce said. "It's always the same game. The puck is the same size. The net is the same size.

"For me, it's always been a nervous excitement. You have to be confident in yourself. I'm definitely excited if I'm called upon."

Babcock: Let's win ugly

You might think the Wings are trying to ride the storm out until they get back most of their injured players.

After all, there isn't much Detroit can do about its injury bug.

"I disagree with that," Babcock said. "I think there's lots we can do. We can try and eliminate our errors and continue to be sound defensively.

"Is there anything wrong with just digging in and playing tight to the vest and getting yourself a great win? We're going to go play a real good, hard-working Ranger team that has good depth and good goaltending.

"We're not racing them to 10. We can't win like that, but there is a way we can win, so let's embrace it and let's do it."

Helm on the road to recovery

Watching Darren Helm walk, you'd have a tough time believing that he's going to miss the next four to six weeks with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee.

"It's going to take a while," he said. "There isn't a whole lot of mobility in there.

"I'm walking pretty good right now and moving fairly well, and those are good signs."

Helm said the he can't bend his knee and has a tightness that limits his movement.

Doctors are encouraged with his range of motion, but they're not optimistic enough to move up his return date.

"They say a month," Helm said. "We'll see how quick I can come back. We not going to be stupid with it. We're not going to rush it too much.

"I'm going to try and push it so I can get back quicker, but again we're not going to be stupid with it."