There’s getting caught out on a long shift and then there’s getting caught out on a long shift

DETROIT – There’s getting caught out on a long shift and then there’s getting caught out on a long shift.

Drew Miller and his fellow penalty killers experienced just that in Game 3 Monday night at Joe Louis Arena.

Niklas Kronwall had a shift length of two minutes and 46 seconds and Patrick Eaves was out there for 2:15.

But both of those shift lengths paled in comparison to the ones Miller and Jonathan Ericsson had to endure with Brendan Smith in the penalty box for holding. The stopwatch wasn’t clicked off on their shifts until it read 3:15.

“Three minutes, that must have been some sort of record,” Ericsson smiled after the game. “I was kind of standing still there in front of the net for a little while so I was able to catch some big breaths. I wasn’t as tired after three minutes as I was after two I think.”

Normal shift length for forwards is roughly 45 seconds and a bit longer for defensemen.

Penalty kill shifts tend to be shorter, as teams try to get quick changes as soon as possible.

“I’d like to forget that one,” Miller said. “It was a long one. When you get stuck on the penalty kill there it’s tough to get off. You try and stay tight, guys were blocking shots and Jimmy (Howard) made some big saves for us. The key is to just to survive it and get off the ice as fast as you can when you can. You have to fight through long shifts like that.”

Not helping matters was the fact that Smith’s penalty occurred in the second period, which meant the Wings had to cross center ice to get a shift change.

“We were pretty tired, we got caught out there and we couldn’t get the puck out,” Eaves said. “They had a lot of skill on the ice and had the puck. We just tried to keep them to the outside.”

Miller was playing in just his second game back after breaking his right hand on April 20 in Vancouver.

“That’s one of those shifts you don’t want to have but you try to get through it,” Miller said. “I felt like my legs were a lot better (Monday). You’re on the penalty kill trying to kill it off and you get stuck out there. From there it’s just desperation, you try and get through it and get the puck out.”

Miller blocked three shots on the three-minute plus shift, finishing with four total to go along with three hits.

“He does all the little things right, blocking shots, getting in on the forecheck, penalty kill and just working hard,” Howard said. “That (penalty kill) was huge. I think (Miller) blocked about five shots on the penalty kill. He’s such a key player for us. He does his job so well.”

Once Smith was released from the box, he joined the play giving the Wings three defenseman on the ice and two forwards.

It took another 1:15 until Detroit could finally get a clear long enough to get a change.

“They had some good chances,” Henrik Zetterberg said. “(Chicago) held onto the puck for a long time there. We stayed composed and Howie was there when we needed him.”

The Wings killed off all four of the Blackhawks’ power plays in Game 3.

“The biggest improvement we’ve seen with him in the lineup is our penalty kill,” Carlo Colaiacovo said. “(That) shift there in the second period I think he blocked five shots in a row. It was huge for that line to get a goal as well. Millsie is a guy who skates real well, blocks shots, plays with that edge, finishes checks and he’s been really key to us since he’s been back.”

The kill was huge and it may have been the spark the Wings’ offense needed as Gustav Nyquist scored just under four minutes later and it was followed up 31 seconds later by a goal from Miller.

“And (Miller) got rewarded with a goal, it just shows you that hard work pays off,” Howard said.

After scoring a goal on their first power-place chance in the series, Chicago has gone 0-for-8 with the man advantage.

“We weathered the storm there and then Gus made that great move to score and fortunately our line got out there and caused a little havoc down low,” Eaves said. “We jammed one in. It was a huge second period. You always want to set yourself up for the third period.”

Over half of Miller’s ice time, 6:25, came on the penalty kill.

“I take pride in the penalty kill and I want to get it done and killed off. Scoring a goal is big, too. I’ll take both. How about that?”

Fourth line decisions; the goalie

DETROIT — Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said he knew what he was going to do with his fourth line for the opener with the Blackhawks, but also said he was going to hold off on it for another day before revealing it.

“I’ve decided. No, you know what. I’ve decided but I’m not going to tell you until (Wednesday),” he said. “Because I’ll wait and see what happens. We’ve got some guys bumped, so we’ll make that decision at our skate.”

Detroit’s fourth line in Game 7 against Anaheim was made up of Patrick Eaves, Mikael Samuelsson and Todd Bertuzzi. Samuelsson left practice early.

On Tuesday, Cory Emmerton, who was a healthy scratch Sunday, centered Bertuzzi and Eaves at practice.

Drew Miller could also be available.

Jimmy Howard left midway through practice, but is expected to start Game 1. He’s been bothered by a hamstring and has seen him practice minutes limited by the team.

Howard leaves practice early, along with Samuelsson

DETROIT – Quick update from Wings’ practice at Joe Louis Arena.

Every Wing on the roster started practice, but all didn’t end it.

Goalie Jimmy Howard left midway through, but is expected to start Game 1 in Chicago Wednesday night.

He’s been bothered by a hamstring and has seen him practice minutes limited by the team.

Forward Mikael Samuelsson also left practice early. There was no word on his status for Game 1.

Wings coach Mike Babcock also said he knew what he was going to do with his fourth line for the opener with the Blackhawks, but before announcing said he was going to hold off on it for another day before revealing it.

At practice, Cory Emmerton centered Todd Bertuzzi and Patrick Eaves.

Emmerton was a healthy scratch in Game 7 and Samuelsson saw very limited ice time since the Wings rotated centers in on that line.

Babcock sticks with same D for Game 7, but still undecided about fourth line

Wings coach Mike Babcock said Saturday that the same six defensemen will play in Game 7, but he hasn’t made a decision on his fourth line.

“The D is playing,” Babcock said. “We made mistakes on the back end, but (we’re using) the same D, I’m just thinking about what I’m going to do on my fourth line. I haven’t figured that out.

“We didn’t manage the puck good enough on the back (in Game 6),” Babcock continued. “We had too many turnovers, both from our forwards and our D that led to opportunities for them. I don’t mind when they generate them but I hate when we generate for them.”

Babcock could try to get Patrick Eaves back in the lineup for either Mikael Samuelsson or Todd Bertuzzi. If Eaves goes in it’ll probably be to replace Bertuzzi since Samuelsson gets time on the power play.

Babcock admitted he didn’t have a good reason why Eaves was a healthy scratch in Game 6.

Franzen heating up at right time

DETROIT – Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock moved Johan Franzen to center on April 5 in Colorado to engage his power forward more.

The move lasted all of two games, but it seems to have done the trick.

Franzen has scored half of his season total in goals over these last seven games to help keep the Wings in playoff contention down the stretch.

“He’s been unbelievable,” forward Patrick Eaves said. “You can’t get the puck off him when he’s playing like this. We really need that. I’m glad he’s on our side and hopefully he continues this into May and June … and July.”

Franzen has 14 goals on the year in 40 games, which ranks second on the team. He also has 17 assists.

To help keep the engagement going, Babcock has had Franzen killing penalties now as well after Drew Miller suffered a broken hand in Vancouver last Saturday.

“He’s very engaged,” Babcock said. “I don’t know if that’s because he’s penalty killing now and playing more. He’s not sitting on the bench (as much), he’s a big man. Sometimes when you’re not penalty killing you’re sitting there. You (don’t) kill penalties, you sit there and watch and as a big man, I don’t know if that’s part of it. But he’s always engaged this time of year. He’s important for us, a huge man with great hands. He’s become a leader on this team. I think he’s really emerged that way this year.”

Franzen has been known to score in bunches.

It’s what happens when he’s not scoring that’s been the problem over this career. He tends to have long stretches where he’s quite ineffective on the ice and has little impact on the game.

“He’s a great player, big, strong and quick on his feet,” said forward Valtteri Filppula, who centers the Wings’ second line with Franzen and Daniel Cleary. “Plus, he’s got a good set of hands. He’s been important for us, scoring some key goals down the stretch and everybody knows how he plays in the playoffs, so it’s a good start that he’s playing well right now.”

In 88 career playoff games, Franzen has 38 goals and 35 assists.

“We need to win here down the stretch so it’s all about playing the way we do,” Franzen said after Thursday’s 5-2 win over Nashville. “We get pucks to the net and we get traffic. We really haven’t been doing that here. We’ve been trying to make the fancy plays on the outside and hoping for an open net somewhere. It doesn’t work like that. You’ve got to play like this and that’s when you start scoring.”

Wings coach Mike Babcock: “Patty is a great human being, No. 1.”

Patrick Eaves’ life changed on Nov. 26, 2011.

That was the night Eaves took a slapshot off the stick of Nashville’s Roman Josi, breaking his jaw and also giving him a concussion.

Nearly 14 months later, Eaves’ was finally able to continue his playing career.

“I couldn’t be a parent, I couldn’t be a father, I couldn’t be a husband,” Eaves said. “I think that was probably the worst part. I was in a dark room for a while. That was the worst part of the whole thing. My wife held the ship together, ran everything and took care of me.”

Eaves has been nominated for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the NHL player who demonstrates perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. The selection is made annual by the Detroit chapter of Professional Hockey Writers Association.

“She was pregnant the whole time and then we had a one-year-old too, so she should be nominated for this,” Eaves said when he learned he was being nominated for the award. “I just got hit in the head with a puck. She deserves all of the credit.”

During the game against the Predators at Joe Louis Arena, Eaves went down to block a shot from the point by Josi and was nailed directly in his jaw.

“I vaguely remember leaving the ice,” Eaves said.

Assistant trainer Russ Baumann called Eaves’ wife, Katie, from the ambulance.

“She was really calm, she’s a nurse so she wanted to know facts and where I was going,” Eaves recalled. “Unfortunately, my in-laws were at the game, so they had to hustle home so Katie could come get me.

“I remember this to this day because I was like ‘don’t drop me,’” Eaves continued. “I just knew that I couldn’t get hit again. But (the guy in the back of the ambulance) knew like every bump along the way to the hospital. So when he knew a bump was coming he would hold me and I remember that. I wish I knew who he was. He was unbelievable. He’d hold me and there would be a bump right when – OK – I knew every time he held me that something was coming and I would kind of brace myself. He did a wonderful job.”

Eaves thought he had been cleared of the headaches late in the summer, but then suffered a setback when he resumed skating with teammates in September.

“That made me nervous,” Eaves said. “I remember that I got really dizzy and then the migraines came back there. That was frustrating because I thought that I was finally on my way. So I basically had to shut it down for a bit, but I knew I’d come back.”

Eaves finally returned to action on Jan. 21 this season.

“I didn’t know how long it would take, that was the biggest thing,” Eaves said. “I just knew that I would be back at some point. I had a lot of rough days in there though. But I knew that I would come back somehow. I’ve been pretty resilient my whole life, I guess, so I knew I’d come back, I just didn’t know when.”

Eaves has played 30 games this season.

“Patty is a great human being, No. 1,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “He’s an unbelievable person, he does things right. Patty Eaves is one of these guys that when he’s scratched he leads the stretch, when he’s scratched he’s in the power play and penalty kill meetings, he dresses for warm-up, he does everything right. If you can be as mentally tough as Patty Eaves and you keep digging in then you will be fine in life. Patty Eaves is one of those people. He makes people around him better because of his commitment to the team and his mental toughness, and he doesn’t let you get in the way of him having a great day. I think he’s impressive.”

Red Wings not interested in trading for depth

DETROIT – As the NHL trade deadline approaches there’s one thing Wings general manager Ken Holland won’t be dealing for this season … depth players.

“I don’t think we need any more depth up front,” Holland said. “We’d like to get healthy up front. If we can do a legitimate trade to acquire a player that we think is a legitimate top nine or top six forward or a legitimate top four defenseman then we’re going to look. I don’t need any depth. There’s no use for me trading a fourth-round pick to bring in here someone to sit. We have lots of depth up front and we have lots of depth on defense so we don’t need depth.

“Is there a player that someone wants to trade that wants to be a top six or top nine forward, not really when everyone is trying to win,” Holland continued. “Today a couple of teams signed players that were going to be unrestricted free agents. I think between now and Wednesday lots of teams are going to sign some of their players. I’m working the phones and if there’s a legitimate top six or top nine forward or a legitimate top four D, behind that I don’t think we have (much interest).”

The trade deadline is 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Holland will miss the Wings’ charter flight to Phoenix just in case a deal for what he’s looking for happens.

“I think we wake up Wednesday and because of history we’ll have 20-30 trades, but lots of deals will be made for depth,” Holland said. “I’ve had some conversations with some teams about the odd depth player and I really don’t have an interest. Again, because of the development of (Jakub) Kindl, (Brian) Lashoff, Brendan Smith, because of the signing of Dan DeKeyser on defense, we’ve got nine guys here and had to trade away Kent Huskins to make room.

“Because of the development of Joakim Andersson, who we really like,” Holland continued. “(Tomas) Tatar and (Gustav) Nyquist have gotten an opportunity. Because Patrick Eaves is healthy. Because we signed Damien Brunner, who can play in the NHL. You look and we don’t need any depth.”

Eaves OK after hit by puck in practice

DETROIT – Patrick Eaves does not have a broken jaw after being hit by a puck later in practice Tuesday.

According to general manager Ken Holland, Eaves is just sore and is day-to-day.

Eaves suffered a broken jaw and concussion on Nov. 26, 2011 when hit took a puck to the face off a shot from Nashville’s Roman Josi.

Franzen out of lineup tonight; Eaves in

DETROIT – Wings general Ken Holland just confirmed that Johan Franzen will miss tonight’s game against the St. Louis Blues due to a hip flexor injury.

“It’s day-to-day and has progressively gotten worse,” Holland said in a phone interview. “We’re going to give him a day off and see how he feels tomorrow.”

Franzen has played all 12 games this season and has three goals and six assists.

Patrick Eaves will be back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch the last four games.

Wings coach Mike Babcock wasn’t clear after the morning skate if there would be any changes to the lineup tonight.

“I am at this point,” Babcock said when asked if he was going with the same lineup as he did in Sunday’s win over the Los Angeles Kings.

Because the morning skate was optional the Wings didn’t skate lines so it won’t be known until game time who is skating with Henrik Zetterberg and Damien Brunner on a line.

Babcock also gave a quick update on Todd Bertuzzi and Darren Helm, who are both out with back injuries.

“I talked to Bert today, he’s not feeling very good,” Babcock said. “And Helmer is just a work in progress. I don’t know how long he’ll be. But neither guy is on the horizon.”

Ins and outs

DETROIT — Wings coach Mike Babcock said as of now he’s going with the same lineup tonight against the St. Louis Blues as he went with Sunday against the Los Angeles Kings, which means Patrick Eaves and Kurt Huskins will be healthy scratches.

St. Louis will start rookie goalie Jake Allen. He came on in relief of Brian Elliott once this season, allowing two goals on eight shots against Nashville on Feb. 5.

The Blues are without Jaroslav Halak, who injured his groin the last time the Blue visited Detroit. Elliott has struggled his season, with a 3.57 goals-against average and a .849 save percentage.