The Detroit Red Wings aren't at full health, and head coach Todd McLellan gave the latest updates following Friday morning's skate.
While the Detroit Red Wings got the job done on the ice on Thursday evening against the Philadelphia Flyers with a 4-2 victory, they lost one of the key members of their blue line.
Defenseman Justin Faulk departed in the second period after having played in just over 10 minutes of ice time; he was soon ruled out for the remainder of the game with an undisclosed injury.
Faulk did not participate during Friday morning's skate, which was held at the training facility of the New Jersey Devils, as Detroit continued preparations to face the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
According to head coach Todd McLellan, Faulk continues to receive treatment and, while they're hoping he can play on Sunday, they are planning on bringing up a defenseman from the Grand Rapids Griffins on an emergency basis.
"Didn't skate today, he's getting treatments," McLellan said of Faulk. "We're hoping that he'll be ready for tomorrow, but I can't predict one way or the other, so we'll see how he is in the morning."
"We'll likely bring somebody up in an emergency situation; there are a couple of other d-men who are banged up, too," he continued. "So, that's still being discussed and decided upon, but I think we'll have somebody here."
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The most likely call-up candidate would be Axel Sandin-Pellikka, who was recently returned to the Griffins after having been a healthy scratch over the last handful of Red Wings games.
In the 63 games that he skated in this season after making the final roster out of Training Camp and the pre-season, Sandin-Pellikka notched six goals with 13 assists. He's already scored twice while adding an assist in four games with the Griffins.
Red Wings team captain Dylan Larkin, who is also not at 100 percent, didn't skate on Friday, but McLellan confirmed that he should be able to play against the Rangers.
"Larks should be able to play tomorrow, I think he's fine," McLellan said. "We're giving him the time to heal on off-days, which he certainly needs. But we expect him to be in there and competing."
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