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Red Wings Notebook: Extent of Rasmussen’s Injury Will Be Known Sunday

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Michael Rasmussen, Detroit Red Wings

Coach Derek Lalonde knew what happened to Michael Rasmussen, but didn’t yet know what it will mean for the Detroit Red Wings.

“Took a puck in the kneecap,” Lalonde said. “He’s back with the doctor now. We will know before we take off tomorrow.”

The Red Wings are leaving for Ottawa Sunday for back-to-back games. One of them is a rescheduled contest from Dec. 23 that was postponed because of inclement weather.

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Rasmussen seemed to be in considerable pain when he left the ice after blocking a shot from Zach Bogosian.

“Very difficult,” Captain Dylan Larkin said. “What he’s brought to our team, not just on the score sheet but physicality, penalty kill, doing all the little things it takes to win, it just hurts. I feel for him. We all do. Just his commitment to our team, the leadership he brings. He’s really found a great role and he’s expanded his game in that role. It just sucks for him right now.”

Rasmussen is part of the team’s leadership group, and has been contributing more offensively. He’s also been more physically assertive this season.

Rasmussen is fifth Red Wing this season to be injured blocking shots. Tyler Bertuzzi and Filip Zadina had lengthy stays in the injured list caused by blocking shots, and Elmer Soderblom and Matt Luff were out for shorter periods.

Raymond Should Be Back

Lalonde said Lucas Raymond skated Saturday “but wasn’t quite there” in terms of being ready to play against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He has missed eight games because of a lower body injury.

“Without any setbacks, I would be surprised if wasn’t available for one of those games (in Ottawa),” Lalonde said.

Jonatan Berggren was back in Detroit’s lineup Saturday, and Jakub Vrana came out. Lalonde has been rotating some players with the idea of keeping everyone sharp. Defenseman Gustav Lindstrom also played against Tampa Bay.

If Rasmussen is out for an extended period, it could spare Vrana a trip back to Grand Rapids. When Raymond is ready to play, he has to rejoin the active roster. Unless Rasmussen goes on the injured list, someone will have to be sent to Grand Rapids.

Ice Chips

The Red Wings’ 45 shots against Tampa Bay is most shots they’ve had in a single game without scoring a goal since generating  51 shots in a 5-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 13, 2010… Defenseman Jake Walman set a career high with eight shots on goal against Tampa Bay, while Dylan Larkin managed six and Bertuzzi had six…Red Wings top prospect Simon Edvinsson  scored his fifth goal of the season in the Grand Rapids Griffins’ 6-2 win against Cleveland…Detroit finished a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill against the Lightning. In all, the Red Wings are 34-for-38 (89.5%) on the penalty kill since Jan. 17 at
Arizona.