Bruce MacLeod reports that the team expects Johan Franzen to return to the lineup within the week. That puts his return date at Saturday at the latest. Franzen could be back Monday, but a return Wednesday in Pittsburgh may be more likely.

With the success of Valtteri Filppula’s line in shutting down Evgeni Malkin last night together with the secondary scoring from Mikael Samuelsson and Dan Cleary, the Wings can afford to delay Franzen’s return a little.