DETROIT – The Red Wings hope that the return of Justin Abdelkader will create road blocks for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
A hand injury kept Abdelkader out of the past six games, including the first two of the best-of-7 Eastern Conference first-round series played at Tampa’s Amalie Arena, where the absence of the 28-year-old was certainly missed.
‘It’s nice to get a good day of practice in, nice to have that extra day between games,” Abdelkader said. “Yeah it’s a lot better. It’s come a long ways and I’m feeling really good.”
With the series tied at 1-1 and moving to Detroit for Game 3 on Tuesday, the Wings can use Abdelkader’s big, physical presence to create a second scoring line against the Lightning.