ST. PAUL, Minn. — The "next man up" mentality is wearing thin for the Detroit Red Wings as they keep losing men.
On Wednesday, it was top-four defenseman Filip Hronek; the day before, top-line center Dylan Larkin. Hronek left less than three minutes into the game against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center and the Wings, already without key personnel up front, spent most of the night defending. Taxed and tired, they lost, 4-1.
Rookie Elmer Söderblom, called up earlier in the day after a short stint in the minors, made it interesting when he scored with 1:19 to play in the second period to get the Wings back to a one-goal deficit, but the Wild answered within 16 seconds.