Red Wings defenseman ready to return from lower-body injury

Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde told the media, including MLive’s Ansar Khan, that veteran defenseman Jeff Petry is healthy and will play in Saturday’s game in Boston. Petry has been out with a lower-body injury and has not played since Oct. 21st.

Petry’s return to the Red Wings lineup again puts into focus the logjam of quality defensemen the team is currently dealing with. With Petry healthy, a veteran such as Justin Holl or Olli Määtta would need to exit the lineup in order for Petry to play. Petry himself has been a healthy scratch at times this season, and it’s possible this impressive blueline depth and the ability for Lalonde to rotate his defensive lineup has helped contribute to Detroit’s stellar start to the season.

Some other notes from the Atlantic Division:

• Florida Panthers team reporter Katie Engleson relays word from head coach Paul Maurice who says forward Sam Bennett and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov are game-time decisions for the team’s Saturday game against the Seattle Kraken. Yesterday, we covered Bennett nearing a return to play and now Maurice has clarified his status, saying he’s not guaranteed to be in the lineup on Saturday. As for Kulikov, he’s occupied an important second-pairing role next to Niko Mikkola and any injury-related absence from him would represent a significant blow to a Panthers blueline already lacking in depth.
• Florida Hockey Now’s George Richards reports that the Panthers have returned forward Mackie Samoskevich to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. Samoskevich, the team’s 2021 first-round pick, broke camp with the Panthers but was sent down for the Checkers’ road trip to Toronto. He was recalled on the 25th and played 8:16 in the Panthers’ last game. Now he returns to the AHL for what will be his rookie AHL campaign.