Holmstrom out 3-4 weeks

In the "OH COME ON!" department, Tomas Holmstrom is reportedly out for 3-4 weeks (at the least) with a fractured foot. According to Khan (sounds like a reading from my Catholic school days), the Wings top goal scorer took a puck to the foot while deflecting shots after practice. It's a "non-displaced fracture" which is good and means a shorter recovery time. Still, the Wings lose their leading goal scorer who had put 15 in the net.

What this means is that the Red Wings could call Mattias Ritola back up (after sending him down) so as to have more options at forward. This is a huge blow to a team trying to get back on track in the health department. Brad May or Ville Leino will be put into tonight's line-up but with the way both of them are playing I wouldn't be surprised if Ritola reappeared.

This has further implications beyond even strength as Homer is the big reason for the Wings powerplay having any success at all. Odd that the way he gets hurt is how he makes his living but the absence of Holmstrom could be just as big as Zetterberg or Franzen when you think about it. Holmstrom sometimes takes two defenders and the goalie out of the play and makes it a lot easier for his linemates so this could create a big change in how that line works tonight and in the next month.

For tonight, the lines will likely be:

Bertuzzi-Datsyuk-Zetterberg
Cleary-Filppula-Miller
Draper-Helm-Eaves
May/Leino-Abdelkader-Maltby.