Detroit Red Wings Clips November 18, 2015

Transcription

1 Detroit Red Wings Clips November 18, 2015 Detroit Red Wings PAGE 2 Wings Green finds game heading into rematch with Caps PAGE 3 Red Wings vs. Capitals: Game info, time, TV, etc. PAGE 4 Wings brace for another round against Ovechkin PAGE 6 Red Wings prepared for another barrage of shots from milestone-seeking Alex Ovechkin PAGE 8 Red Wings assign seldom-used Tomas Jurco to Grand Rapids for twoweek conditioning stint PAGE 9 After slow start with Red Wings, Mike Green gaining confidence to jump up in the play PAGE 11 Red Wings accomplished goal of getting more pucks on net, now they must repeat effort PAGE 13 Red Wings Q&A: Kirk Maltby on which Stanley Cup meant the most, 'chirping' and The Grind Line PAGE 16 Helm's struggling to get back scoring touch

2 Wings Green finds game heading into rematch with Caps Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press 4:06 p.m. EST November 17, 2015 After the Detroit Red Wings shut out the Washington Capitals last week, there were a few laughs about how the Wings had planned to let Alex Ovechkin take all the shots he wanted. On that night, he took 15. After the Wings ensured Monday that they'd head into Wednesday's rematch at Joe Louis Arena on a winning note, coach Jeff Blashill joked that the number might go as high as 20. "We liked the way that worked," he said, smiling. What Blashill says most often when asked about the opponent du jour is that the Wings have to focus on what they need to do to be successful. They executed that Monday at Ottawa, coming away with a 4-3 overtime victory. "The reason we won is we came out of the gate strong," defenseman Mike Green said afterward. Today was a scheduled day off. Starting strong went hand-in-hand with balanced scoring and with an active defense that pushed the pace up the ice. Particularly so for Green, who had two assists Monday to reach four points in his five games since returning from injury. He was brought aboard for his offense, and before Monday's game, he and Blashill had a talk about Green being on the attack all the time. "He is a great forward skater, and when he is on the attack, he is great," Blashill said. For Green, the points are a path to integration. "Especially when you are joining a new team," he said, "you really want to help out and contribute. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time to get the feel and flow of how a team plays, but I feel we are really coming along with that." As for providing insight into his old team, Green pointed out that containing Ovechkin has been a futile endeavor for many. The best antidotes are outstanding goaltending, which the Wings got from Petr Mrazek in the 1-0 home victory on Nov. 10. The other, as Green put it, "is to eliminate (Nicklas) Backstrom" who is Ovechkin's top puck deliverer. Ultimately, though, "even playing with him, I don't know what other teams did or said," Green said. "They tried everything, and he would still have chances. I think he plays such a unique game. He finds the openings." Blashill has switched between his starting goaltenders nine straight games, so going by that trend, it would be Mrazek in goal Wednesday. Note: The Wings assigned forward Tomas Jurco, who has been a healthy scratch since Halloween, to Grand Rapids (AHL) for a conditioning stint. Detroit Free Press LOADED:

3 Red Wings vs. Capitals: Game info, time, TV, etc. Kirkland Crawford, Detroit Free Press 2:30 a.m. EST November 18, 2015 Detroit Red Wings (9-8-1, 19 points) vs. Washington Capitals (11-4-1, 23 points) When: 8 p.m. Where: Joe Louis Arena. TV: NBC Sports Network. Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1; Click here for other affiliates). The skinny: Just one week ago, the Red Wings blanked the Capitals, 1-0, at the Joe, in front of newly-minted Hall of Famer Sergei Federov. On Monday, the Wings were saved by Tomas Tatar in overtime as Detroit won, 4-3, after giving up a two-goal lead in the third period. While Jeff Blashill continues to shuffle his lines seeking consistent scoring, one player you won't see tonight is Tomas Jurco, who's been optioned to Grand Rapids for a conditioning stint. Petr Mrazek is expected to play in goal. Detroit Free Press LOADED:

4 Wings brace for another round against Ovechkin Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News 4:19 p.m. EST November 17, 2015 Detroit Maybe that was the trick just let Alex Ovechkin shoot the puck until the point of pure exhaustion. Or something like that. The Washington Capitals star had an astonishing 15 shots on net Nov. 10 when the Red Wings and goalie Petr Mrazek shut out the Capitals, 1-0. Ovechkin was a bit motivated heading into the evening. Remember, the Red Wings honored Sergei Fedorov that evening for his Hall of Fame induction. Fedorov was obviously in the house, and Ovechkin was tied with Fedorov for most goals by a Russian-born player in the NHL (483). Ovechkin was intent on passing Fedorov last week against the Red Wings, but Mrazek and the Red Wings wouldn t allow it. And, incidentally, Ovechkin remains stuck at 483 goals. So what s the strategy coach Jeff Blashill has in store for Wednesday against Ovechkin? Try for under 15 shots? We re thinking maybe 20, said Blashill, tongue planted firmly in cheek, after Tuesday s 4-3 overtime victory in Ottawa. We liked the way that one worked, so we ll see. Ovechkin s former teammate in Washington, defenseman Mike Green, said Ovechkin usually will get his fair share of shots, no matter what the opposition attempts to do to contain him. Playing with him I don t know what other teams did or said, Green said. They tried everything and he would still have chances. We talked about it before the game (last week) and he still ended up getting 15 shots. He plays such a unique game. He kind of finds the openings. He thinks the game a little different. Maybe that creates all those chances because he s maybe a little bit out of position, which for him he s is in position.. We ve just got to try to eliminate his time with the puck and eliminate (linemate Nicklas) Backstrom that s going to give it to him. He s the key behind that. Ovechkin and Green appeared to get into a few individual battles last week. It s just the competition, Green said. You ve got to play the game hard. I knew that he d be coming a little bit. That s just his character. I made sure I gave it back to him. Jurco sent to GR Unable to crack the lineup in recent weeks, the Red Wings sent Tomas Jurco to minor league affiliate Grand Rapids on a conditioning assignment. 4

5 A conditioning assignment can last as much as two weeks. The Griffins have six games over the next two weeks, which could be a great opportunity for Jurco to get reacquainted with game action. Jurco, 22, has played only four games this season with one assist, two shots on net, and four penalty minutes while averaging 10 minutes of ice time per game. Comeback kid Who did Blashill feel was one of the Red Wings best players in Tuesday s victory in Ottawa? How about defenseman Jakub Kindl, who was mostly a healthy scratch under coach Mike Babcock, but who could be getting a second life under Blashill. It might have been his best game of the season in a lot of ways, Blashill said. He was strong defensively, strong on the puck, broke out the puck great. He s real aggressive offensively, but in a good way, not taking too many chances and creating opportunities. He did a real good job. Kindl played nearly 18 minutes and had a team-high six shots against the Senators. For the season, Kindl leads Red Wings defensemen with two goals (he has five points). ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com twitter.com/tkulfan Capitals at Red Wings Faceoff: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Joe Louis Arena, Detroit TV/radio: NBC Sports Network/97.1 Outlook: The Red Wings have won the lone game between the teams this season. LW Alex Ovechkin (eight goals) gets the headlines but C Evgeny Kuznetsov (12 assists, team-high 17 points) is also developing into an offensive force. Detroit News LOADED:

6 Red Wings prepared for another barrage of shots from milestone-seeking Alex Ovechkin Ansar Khan By Ansar Khan on November 17, 2015 at 6:04 PM DETROIT Alex Ovechkin threw everything but the proverbial kitchen sink at Petr Mrazek and the Detroit Red Wings last week but couldn't score a milestone goal. He'll get another opportunity Wednesday when the Washington Capitals visit Joe Louis Arena for the second time in eight days (8 p.m., NBC Sports Network). Ovechkin equaled a career-high with 15 shots on goal in a 1-0 loss to the Red Wings on Nov. 10. He needed one goal to pass former Red Wing Sergei Fedorov and become the NHL's all-time leader among Russian-born players (they're tied with 483 goals). Fedorov was at the game, being honored for his Hall of Fame induction. Ovechkin was held scoreless in two subsequent games, in which he combined for only five shots. He has gone three games without a point and will be coming off a four-day break. Red Wings defenseman Mike Green, Ovechkin's teammate for 10 years, said it's virtually impossible to devise a strategy to contain Ovechkin, who logged a season-high 24:43 against Detroit. "Even playing with him I don't know what other teams did or said; they tried everything and he would still have chances," Green said. "We talked about it before the game and he still ended up getting 15 shots." Ovechkin has nine goals and 17 points in 15 career games against the Red Wings. "I think he plays such a unique game. He finds the openings. He thinks the game a little differently," Green said. "Maybe that creates all those chances because he's maybe a little bit out of position, which for him is in position. He gets a lot of opportunities for sure. "We've just got to try to eliminate his time with the puck and eliminate (his center Nicklas) Backstrom that's going to give it to him. He's the key behind that." Coach Jeff Blashill hasn't indicated who will start in goal, but it is likely to be Mrazek. Green got rough a couple of times with Ovechkin in the game last week. "It's just the competition," Green said. "You've got to play the game hard. I knew that he would be coming a little bit. That's just his character. I made sure I gave it back to him." The Red Wings (9-8-1) ended a two-game slide with a 4-3 overtime victory in Ottawa Monday. They have a tough stretch this week, facing Washington (11-4-1), Los Angeles (11-6-0) at home Friday and St. Louis (12-5-1) on the road Saturday. "We're preparing accordingly every game, making sure we're doing the right things because every point matters," Green said. "Even though it's early in the season, the 6

7 halfway point is going to come here real quick so we've got to make sure we get our points." Said goaltender Jimmy Howard: "We've got some tough competitors ahead of us. We've just got to find a way to stockpile points." Michigan Live LOADED:

8 Red Wings assign seldom-used Tomas Jurco to Grand Rapids for two-week conditioning stint Ansar Khan By Ansar Khan on November 17, 2015 at 3:56 PM, updated November 17, 2015 at 4:25 PM DETROIT -- The Detroit assigned seldom-used forward Tomas Jurco to the Grand Rapids Griffins Tuesday for conditioning. Jurco, who needed to consent to the move, can remain with the Griffins for a maximum of two weeks. The move is designed to get Jurco some playing time. He hasn't appeared in a game since Oct. 30 and has played in only four of the Red Wings' 18 games, picking up one point (an assist), two shots on goal and four penalty minutes, while averaging 10:02 in ice time. Jurco still counts toward the Red Wings' 23-man roster while in Grand Rapids. Players on conditioning stints don't need to go through waivers. Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill has said the club has a long-term plan with Jurco. He wants Jurco to be in better shape, so that he can skate better and wants him to be more tenacious on the puck. The Red Wings believe Jurco, 22, has a lot of skill and potential. He lost some confidence last season, when he produced just three goals and 18 points in 63 NHL games. The Red Wings selected Jurco (6-1, 203) with their top pick in the 2011 draft (35th overall). Michigan Live LOADED:

9 After slow start with Red Wings, Mike Green gaining confidence to jump up in the play Ansar Khan By Ansar Khan on November 17, 2015 at 12:06 PM, updated November 17, 2015 at 5:29 PM DETROIT Mike Green received a pass in his own zone, skated the puck up the middle of the ice and into the offensive zone, leading a rush that resulted in a goal on Monday. It's a scene the Detroit Red Wings need to see more often. Green's ability to join the rush and contribute offensively is why the Red Wings signed him. He didn't have much impact the first five weeks, with no goals, four assists and a team-worst minus-8 rating in 11 games. But after returning from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for six games, Green seems to be finding his comfort level offensively, with four assists in five games, including two in a 4-3 overtime victory at Ottawa. "It's good to kind of get back to feeling like you can jump up in the play," Green said. "They encourage that here, which is good. I'm finding that when I see holes I'm able to jump and feel confident that the forwards actually support you. I have all the confidence to do that." Coach Jeff Blashill said Green is still trying to get his game to the 'A' level after missing some time, including part of camp and preseason. "When he's on the attack he's great," Blashill said. "He and I talked this morning just about being on the attack all the time and gapping and skating forwards; he's a great forward skater. Let's utilize that. I thought he did a real good job." Green will face his former team for the second time in eight days Wednesday when the Washington Capitals visit Joe Louis Arena (8 p.m., NBC Sports Network). Green has been paired with Niklas Kronwall the past few games, his third partner in a short period of time (Kyle Quincey and Danny DeKeyser were the others). "Especially when you're joining a new team you want to help out, contribute, but sometimes it takes a little time to sort of get the feel, the flow, how the team plays," Green said. "I feel like we're really coming along here." The Red Wings, struggling offensively, continue to encourage their defense to be more active. "It's something we emphasized in camp and re-emphasized the week leading into our last series with (Ottawa)," Blashill said. "I just think it puts teams on their heels a little bit and it also plays to our skill-set of our D. We got a D that when they're gapped up tight they're really good. We got a D that when they're on the attack they're really good. So we got to continue to do that." Praise for Kindl 9

10 Jakub Kindl didn't have any points Monday but generated chances, registering a careerhigh six shots on goal. "It might have been his best game of the season in a lot of ways," Blashill said. "He was strong defensively, strong on the puck, broke the puck out great; seemed to be real aggressive offensively, in a good way, not taking too many chances but creating opportunities." Michigan Live LOADED:

11 Red Wings accomplished goal of getting more pucks on net, now they must repeat effort Ansar Khan By Ansar Khan on November 17, 2015 at 6:01 AM, updated November 17, 2015 at 6:09 AM OTTAWA The Detroit Red Wings registered a season-high 37 shots on goal Monday, reminding Jimmy Howard of the good, old days, when this wasn't such a rare occurrence. He was glad to see the opposing goaltender being forced to work for a change. "It's just a great effort and that was the design in practice (Sunday), get a lot of pucks on net," Howard said. "Petr and I saw a lot of rubber in practice and it was good to see it transition over into the game tonight." Tomas Tatar scored at 2:04 of overtime to lift the Red Wings past the Ottawa Senators 4-3 at Canadian Tire Centre. It was the first time in seven games since a 5-3 win in Ottawa on Oct that Detroit (9-8-1) has scored more than two goals in a game, just the second time in 18 games overall it has recorded 30 or more shots. It was a clash between the team ranked last in the NHL in shots per game (the Red Wings) and the club that allows the most shots (the Senators). The Red Wings did what they have talked about doing all season but haven't accomplished get pucks on net. "I think that's been coming for a while in terms of our shot attempts," coach Jeff Blashill said. "We talked lots about it as a team. We got to do a better job of getting them through quicker, so they don't get blocked. We got to do a better job of getting them on net. I thought we did that tonight." Said forward Riley Sheahan: "I think we did a good job of what we wanted to do and that was get some pucks to the net and emphasize shooting when you don't have the best angle and try to create a scramble in front." Sheahan scored his goal during a scramble in front of goaltender Craig Andersson. It put his team ahead 3-1 at 16:24 of the second period. But Dylan Larkin set the tone on this night by scoring from an almost impossible angle at 9:12 of the first period, when he banked in a shot off Anderson. "He's so dynamic, that kid, how he can skate and handle the puck and see," defenseman Mike Green said. "Most guys would have kept wheeling (around) the net there. He was almost behind the net and sees that hole. He planned that. It wasn't an accident. That just goes to show what kind of player he is." Said Blashill: "Those shots from the sides are real tough on goaltenders these days, the way goalies play. They almost anticipate pushing out to the slot, so I think those shots from the side can be dangerous." 11

12 Gustav Nyquist made it 2-0 at 11:01, capping what amounted to a three-on-two rush with Green and Justin Abdelkader. The Senators got on the scoreboard with Mike Hoffman's power-play goal at 16:10 of the first and rallied in the third on goals from Chris Wideman (3:13) and Bobby Ryan (17:12). "The first two were deflections with screens in front," said Howard, who described his performance as so-so. "You've just got to get out and hopefully it hits you." Said Tatar: "We're looking pretty good for the first two periods, then I feel like we stepped back and tried to defend the score. We had many chances. We just have to find a way to put more pucks on the goal and get some easy rebounds. We are happy with the result obviously, two points." It was an important win against an Atlantic Division rival the Red Wings might be battling for a playoff spot and it kicked off a tough week, with games against three top clubs Washington Wednesday, Los Angeles Friday and St. Louis Saturday. "It was huge, just to get us back on track," Howard said. Michigan Live LOADED:

13 Red Wings Q&A: Kirk Maltby on which Stanley Cup meant the most, 'chirping' and The Grind Line Brendan Savage By Brendan Savage on November 18, 2015 at 6:06 AM, updated November 18, 2015 at 6:07 AM DETROIT Kirk Maltby struck gold during his third NHL season, when the Detroit Red Wings acquired him in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers less than a month before the start of the 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs. Maltby became a member of the Red Wings' famed Grind Line, spent the final 13 seasons of his NHL career in Detroit and retired in 2010 with four Stanley Cup rings one of only fives players to achieve that milestone from The Grind Line Maltby, Kris Draper, Joey Kocur and Darren McCarty played an integral role in the Red Wings success during the aforementioned stretch, when Detroit was home to an honest-to-goodness dynasty. In a Q&A with MLive, the 42-year-old Maltby talked about all of that as well as which of his teammates was the best at chirping opponents, who kept the rest of the team loose and his current job as a Red Wings pro scout. MLive: When you're watching a game now do you still get the itch to play? Maltby: Sometimes you kind of get a little more involved. I'm into my fifth or sixth year it's hard to keep track being retired now. The first year is the hardest. There is times where you get a game... where you kind of get caught up, especially if we're one of the teams involved in it. But I guess at the end of the day I know I can't get out there right now so I'm just a big fan I guess. MLive: Do you still skate much? Maltby: I get out here and there. I'm going to play in the alumni game in Colorado this year. I get out on the ice with my son for practices. That's about the most I skate right now. MLive: What do you miss the most? Everybody seems to say the camaraderie. Maltby: Yeah, it is, absolutely. Guys from all over the world, broken English, maybe hardly any English, yet you still find a way to communicate on the ice, on the road, to make everyone feel like they're family. That's a huge thing. Obviously you have a job to do but at the end of the day, you have a lot of great times with guys when you're just hanging out with them. MLive: You're a friendly guy off the ice. Everybody says you're personable. But opponents didn't like you when you played. What was that all about? How did you handle that? Maltby: I don't know. I guess it's like my alter ego to a degree. I'm not a very confrontational person off the ice whereas on the ice I enjoyed stirring it up out there. It was a lot of fun. Obviously, I had Drapes and Mac and Joey and guys like that to help 13

14 me out with some of those issues. But I guess at the end of the day, I knew I had a role. You knew what worked. You kind of figure out other guy's tendencies, things they don't like and you kind of get under the skin. And anytime especially the '90s, 2000s I can put our team on the power play with the guys we could put out there, I was going to do it. MLive: Which one of the current Red Wings reminds you the most of yourself? Maltby: (Laughs) Probably Luke (Glendening) a little bit. Just works hard, blocks shots, he's a really good penalty killer. I like to think I worked every night. Sometimes things didn't go your way but I tried to come every night and I think Luke, whether he's on the score sheet or not, you know his game isn't going to be for a lack of effort. MLive: This is a reader question. Which teammate you played with was the best at or did the most chirping on the ice? Was it you? Maltby: (Laughs) I did chirp a lot. I never wore a mouth guard, partially because it was hard to breathe but it was really hard to chirp and talk with one. I figured teeth can get fixed at the end of my career but I guess because I did a lot of it my linemates got involved with it. Drapes probably was right there with me, maybe a little more at times, but we had a lot of fun. I think that's why a lot of people mix us up a lot. We look nothing alike but I get called Kris a lot, especially around the arenas and things like that. MLive: What's the best chirp you've ever heard? Does one stick out? Maltby: Unfortunately, my chirps and ones that were brought to me, a lot of them were just a lot of F-bombs, a lot of cursing. Nothing brilliant, really. MLive: Not suitable for a family newspaper? Maltby: Yeah. I wasn't one to dig deep if somebody had a personal, off-ice issue or something, a tragedy. I didn't want to go there. To me, that was crossing the line. MLive: Who was the guy that kept everybody loose on the bus, in the room, on the plane? Maltby: Almost by default and I don't even think he meant to most days but Tomas Holmstrom, going back to the stories of Esa Tikkanen. He spoke Tikkanese. It was a mixture of Finnish and English and God knows whatever else. Homer was kind of the same thing. He spoke pretty good English but there was times he was funny without even trying. He does have a great personality. So when he was trying (he was funny) and when he wasn't trying he was even funnier. Homer is a great guy to have at the dinner table when we were on the road and stuff like that. MLive: The four Stanley Cups, does one of them stand out as being more special or more memorable? Maltby: The old cliché is they all mean a lot. The first one because it's the first one. It's almost like you're first kiss. Then you want more. Then, the second one because of the accident with Vladdy (Konstantinov) and Sergei (Mnatsakanov) and Slava Fetisov. The third one, because of the Hall of Famers. We were expected to win and going down 2-0 to Vancouver. And (the fourth in) the salary cap world. The Red Wings were going to be 14

15 able to be brought down to everyone's level and we were still able to come out and find a way to win the Stanley Cup. MLive: Do you ever wear your rings? Maltby: No. I do wear them the odd time to a banquet or a wedding or something like that but it's on my ring finger on my right hand, which I shake hands with, and it just crushes my fingers too much to shake hands. I love to wear them. I would love to wear them more often and I'm so fortunate to have them. But they're definitely not a ring or a piece of hardware that you don't or at least I don't wear every day. MLive: Who was the toughest opponent you ever played against? Maltby: There were so many. Fortunately, we had some success as a line me and Drapes and Joey and even Mac in there that when... we were going through the heyday with Colorado, we would get matched up out there with Peter Forsberg, who for as skilled a guy as he was he was equally as physical and had a temper and had some nastiness to him. We didn't play Jersey a lot they were in the other conference but my job was to be physical and get in on the forecheck and wear down the D and a guy like Scott Stevens was like a brick wall. Even if he wasn't ready for the hit, you still got the worst of it. And then obviously a guy who just went into the Hall of Fame that we played a whole bunch against in St. Louis, Chris Pronger. It was never fun. You wanted to score points or contribute as much as you could but if you had to go net front, you knew you were going to be paying a price if he was on the ice. MLive: What was your favorite city to visit when you were on the road? Maltby: There are so many. Nashville was late in my career but we played them a couple times in the playoffs. It's a nice city. You get some nice weather. It's not too hot. It's a great little atmosphere there. I loved going out to Vancouver either late in the year or early in the year because you don't get all that rain. It's a beautiful city with the ocean and the mountains right there. There's a lot of great cities but those are two of my favorite. MLive: Favorite rink to play in other than Joe Louis Arena? Maltby: The Joe by far. It's going to be a sad day when this rink is gone but I know it is time. Gosh, not that we played there a lot but it was always fun to go into MSG with the history they have there. It was amazing to watch what they've done. They've just put, I think, a billion-dollar renovation into it. There's more events there than there are days of the year. It's cool to come in for warmup when the ice is still covered with a basketball floor or something like that and we're going to be playing hockey in about two hours and it's still ready to go. MLive: What's the best part of your current job? Maltby: I get to watch hockey. I don't have to worry about ice bags or getting punched or blocking shots. I see these guys blocking shots and I'm like, 'Man, I do not miss that at all.' Even if it's not our games and I go to other games, I know how hard some of these guys can shoot the puck. It's definitely a lot easier up at this level. I get to watch hockey. It's the sport I love, a sport I know and it's just a great job to have. Michigan Live LOADED:

16 Helm's struggling to get back scoring touch By Chuck Pleiness, The Macomb Daily POSTED: 11/17/15, 3:26 PM EST UPDATED: 21 SECS AGO # COMMENTS DETROIT >> Like many Detroit Red Wings, Darren Helm is in search of his first goal this season. I compare him with a lot of guys on our team, with production comes confidence, Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. I m sure it s frustrating as a guy who wants to produce and help the team win when you don t (score) but we all have to fight through that frustration. It s part of life and we have to continue to find a way to grind, Blashill continued. What you can t do is start not doing things right. We ve done things right for the most part over the last number of games. Helm is on the list of Wings in search of their first goal this season with the likes of Niklas Kronwall, Mike Green, Luke Glendening, Drew Miller, Brad Richards, and Pavel Datsyuk, who just returned and has played the last three games. Helm scored a career-high 15 goals last season after registering 12 goals in 42 games the season before. I feel that I ve put a few games together where I ve played a little better, but I want to get better, I want to keep improving, Helm said. I don t want to be satisfied with where I m at. Obviously I want to produce. I look at what makes me a good hockey player and that s hard work and skating, being relentless on the puck. I think if I actually get those a little bit better than those points will come. Helm said he doesn t need to score to have confidence in his game, but it would certainly add to it. It would be nice right now, boost it up a little bit more, Helm said. It s always nice when you re scoring, it makes things a little bit easier, but I m not stressing too much over it. That s something I don t want to do (but) not beating myself up over it. Helm missed training camp, the preseason and the first four games of the regular season after suffering a separated shoulder and concussion just minutes into the opening of camp when he collided heavily with Jerome Verrier. It sucks, but (I ve played) in 14 games now, Helm said. I ve had my camp, I ve had my exhibition, there s no excuses right now for any poor play that comes along. There s no excuse now. I generally know how well I m skating or working, if things are going right or wrong, Helm added. Usually I base my play and how I work and how much I skate and getting some O-zone time. The rest will come if I m doing those things well. I think I m doing a little bit better and there s always room for improvement and points will come. 16

17 Helm, who was once considered the best third-line center in the league, has just one assist and has a minus-5 rating in 14 games. The thing is most guys got four or five training camp games and he got none, so really you take that out of there, so maybe he s got eight games played, Blashill said. And he hasn t spent as much time on the power play as he did last year. That s something we ll continue to explore. Helm, who is an unrestricted free agent after this season, is skating on the team s fourth line alongside Glendening and Riley Sheahan. His game has been way better in the last four or five games, Blashill said. I think he s been a real impactful player every night. He doesn t need to score to be impactful, he needs to use his energy to win puck battles and create zone time and I think he s done that. With Helm, Glendening and Sheahan we think we got a line that can spend lot of time in the O-zone, can be great defensively and can ultimately create offense. Macomb Daily LOADED: