Helene St James reports that Danny Markov will be out of the Wings lineup for at least three weeks with a broken right hand. He took a puck to the hand early in the third period of last night’s game. The Wings will need to call someone up at least until Kronwall comes back from his groin injury (maybe Saturday?). Kyle Quincey would normally be the top call-up on defense, but he’s still working his way back from a concussion and I’m not sure he’d be ready to go yet. (Though he did play in a charity sled-hockey game last night…) The most likely options are Derek Meech and Jonathan Ericsson. Both have had outstanding seasons thus far. Meech has been a workhorse for Grand Rapids, logging plenty of minutes and playing solid defense. The Wings could potentially opt to go with veteran Dan Smith, but they seem to like giving the youngsters a shot at the NHL when opportunities arise, so that’s what I’d expect.
St James also points out that this means the whiny Lilja will probably get the playing time he’s been begging for, paired with his old partner, Nicklas Lidstrom.