Darren Helm-12-30-13

Red Wings center Darren Helm battles for the puck against Nashville's Shea Weber on Dec. 30.

(The Associated Press)

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings have another tough challenge tonight in the second game of their five-game home stand as their former Central Division rival St. Louis Blues make their lone visit to Joe Louis Arena (7:30, Fox Sports Detroit).

The Red Wings hope to get a boost with the return of center Darren Helm, who has missed seven games with a pulled groin and 18 of the past 19, including his shoulder injury before that.

“I’ve felt good the last couple of days,” Helm said. “I’ve skated hard, no problems, so tonight’s the next test.

“I’m just going to try and do what I did last time and the time before that, just play my game. There’s nothing special I need to do, just make sure I’m taking short shifts. I’m going to be a little rusty out there so I can’t be doing too much.”

In addition to the speed, energy, physical play and penalty killing Helm provides, he also has contributed offensively, with seven goals and 11 points in 16 games.

“Obviously, he hasn’t played in a long time,” coach Mike Babcock said. “I don’t know if it’s going to take him some time or not. When he’s going he’s a real impactful player for us. I don’t know how many minutes he can handle tonight but it’s good to have him back.”

Helm replaces Cory Emmerton, who couldn’t play anyway after injuring his right pinky finger in Saturday’s 3-2 shootout victory over Los Angeles. Emmerton is waiting for test results to see if it is broken.

That is the only change for the Red Wings, who are still missing forwards Pavel Datsyuk (lower-body injury), Daniel Alfredsson (back) and Joakim Andersson (lower body), none of whom skated today. Alfredsson said he hopes to skate in the next couple of days.

Johan Franzen (concussion) and Jonathan Ericsson (broken ribs) skated but aren’t ready. Ericsson, out since Dec. 23 with broken ribs, is hoping to return Wednesday against Chicago.

Goaltender Jonas Gustavsson (groin) continues to practice and said he expects to return this week, but not tonight.

The Blues (32-10-5) have lost two in a row and three of four, following a seven-game winning streak and 9-0-1 stretch.

“I don’t see them much, thank God,” Babcock said. “All these teams we’re playing right now are very good teams, high-end teams. No different than L.A., Chicago.

“They’re a test for our young group for sure. This should be a competitive game, lots of fun. Whether it turns out right or not, we’re going to compete hard and we’re going to make it hard.”

Here are the Red Wings' lines and defense pairs for tonight:

Gustav Nyquist-Henrik Zetterberg-Justin Abdelkader

Tomas Jurco-Riley Sheahan-Todd Bertuzzi

Tomas Tatar-Darren Helm-Drew Miller

Daniel Cleary-Luke Glendening-Patrick Eaves

Niklas Kronwall-Brendan Smith

Kyle Quincey-Danny DeKeyser

Brian Lashoff-Jakub Kindl

Jimmy Howard (starting)

Petr Mrazek