Detroit Red Wings
Red Wings Call Up Tough Guy Austin Watson
Lagesson likely will play in the third defensive pairing
The Detroit Red Wings, still in a battle for the playoffs, opted for experience over youth Friday when it came to promoting players to replaced injured Elmer Soderblom and Erik Gustafsson.
Tough forward Austin Watson and veteran Brogan Raftery joined the team, as emergency call-ups, before it left for their Western road trip. That starts Saturday with a game against the Vegas Golden Knights. Detroit also has games against the Utah Hockey Club and Colorado Avalanche.
Watson, 33, has played well for Grand Rapids, scoring 16 goals, producing 37 points and providing a noteworthy physical presence. GM Steve Yzerman rewarded his contributions recently by giving him a one-year contract extension. Rafferty, 29, has logged more than 300 games in the American Hockey League, and played three NHL games with Vancouver.
Lagesson Will Play
William Lagesson likely enters the lineup on the third pairing, and Rafferty would then be the No. 7 defenseman. It’s unknown whether Watson will join the lineup on the fourth line, or serve as insurance against a late injury or illness.
“I want to compete,” Watson said. “I want to be able to show that there’s a level of hockey that I can play at that can be useful for this team here. And then when you get that chance, just go about your business and you try to play your game to the best of your abilities and help the team. Right now everything’s so critical. Points are so crucial that anything you can do just to help game in, game out, practices, energy, all that kind of stuff.”
McLellan said Watson knows who he is.
 “He knows how he has to play to have success at this level,” McLellan said. “I hear a lot about his energy and enthusiasm around the team and you can feel it a little bit in practice today. So that’s a good thing for us as well at this point.”
The Red Wings, with 14 games remaining, are four points out of a playoff game going into Saturday’s game in Vegas. It feels as if they need to generate 20 points in the remaining games to have a chance of qualifying for the postseason for the first time in nine seasons.
