On the heels of a 4-3 road victory in Calgary last night, the Detroit Red Wings face the always difficult 3rd road game in 4 nights this evening as they face the tough luck Edmonton Oilers this evening at Rexall Place in Edmonton in the second half of the weekly Hockey Night in Canada doubleheader.Tonight marks the long awaited return ofto the Red Wing lineup. Since sustaining a gruesome wrist injury in a playoff game against the Nashville Predators in April of 2012, Helm has played in 1 NHL contest in the past 18 months. After returning from rehab on his wrist, a mysterious back injury prevented Helm from playing all but one contest last season.After a full summer off, Helm was skating at training camp in September when a groin issue arose, preventing him from playing in any preseason action. Aside from 2 AHL games a couple weeks ago with the Grand Rapids Griffins, Helm's skating has been limited to practice time. He will center the 4th line tonight betweenand, who draws into the lineup replacingIt goes without saying that a healthy and fully operationalwould go a long way in making the Red Wings a much more complete hockey club. An ideal fit as the club's third line center given his speed, tenacity, ability to win face-offs and defensive play, Helm's return will definitely put a smile on Mike Babcock's face with the added depth down the middle of his hockey club.In order to accommodate Helm's return and remain cap compliant, the Red Wings had to place Don the long-term injury reserve. Nursing a shoulder injury, Ericsson was placed on the LTIR retroactive to Oct. 21, the day after he hurt the shoulder in Phoenix. He will not be eligible to return to the lineup until November 15th vs. Washington. As expected, the Red Wings continue to play the "LTIR game" to remain cap compliant. This move buys them yet another two weeks.The Red Wings will give starterthe night off and allowan opportunity to start in goal in place of the injured(neck, day-to-day).is still not feeling 100% due to an unspecified illness and will sit out tonight's contest in the hopes of returning Monday against Winnipeg.The difficult scheduling spot for Detroit is offset with the injuries piling up for the Oilers, already behind the "8" ball with a record of 3-9-2 through their opening 14 contests. Having been rested since Tuesday night's 4-0 home loss at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the expectation is we see a spirited effort from the Oilers tonight. However, it should be noted the Oilers are without the services of four regulars up front inand. In addition, rearguardis a game-time decision as he deals with a groin/rib issue.Regular starting netminderhas missed the past couple contest dealing with an ankle issue, allowing forto get the past two starts in goal for Edmonton. After standing on his head last weekend in Los Angeles to steal a point for Edmonton against the Kings, he allowed 4 goals on 26 shots against the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night. He will be in the pipes once again for the Oilers this evening.Zetterberg - Datsyuk - BertuzziCleary - Weiss - AlfredssonTatar - Andersson - AbdelkaderMiller - Helm - SamuelssonKronwall - DeKeyserQuincey - SmithKindl - LashoffMrazek(Howard)Ryan Jones - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan EberleNail Yakupov - Sam Gagner - Ales HemskyRyan Hamilton - Boyd Gordon - Mark ArcobelloLuke Gazdic - Will Acton - Ben EagerAnton Belov - Philip LarsenLadislav Smid - Jeff PetryAndrew Ference - Nick SchultzRichard BachmanFollow me on twitter: @markspizzirri