DETROIT -- Update from the Detroit Red Wings morning skate:

Joey MacDonald will get his second start in a row tonight against the Edmonton Oilers at Joe Louis Arena (7:30, Fox Sports Detroit Plus).

Brad Stuart is back in the lineup after missing one game with the flu. He replaces Mike Commodore. Forward Jan Mursak is a healthy scratch. Danny Cleary will continue to play despite a sore left knee that will soon need to be drained and require a cortisone shot.

Goaltender Jimmy Howard skated again, but still is not ready to face any shots because of his broken right index finger. He saw the doctor today, but was given no definitive timetable on when he can return.

"It all depends on pain threshold, what I can withstand out there,'' Howard said.“Every single day my finger is getting better. One thing the doctor said was I'm lucky being young enough where the bone is going to (heal) faster. Hopefully by the end of the week I'm out there taking shots.''

Howard said he'd like to get in a couple of practices where he's facing shots before playing. That rules out a return for Friday's game against Anaheim, as the Red Wings are not practicing Thursday. The earliest he could return is Sunday against Philadelphia, but even that might be optimistic.

“Ideally, I'd really love a couple of good practices before I get in there,'' Howard said. "It's been seven days now, the timing can go away.''

He is not concerned about returning too soon and making it worse.

“It would have to be like getting struck by lightning, that's what (the doctor) basically said this morning, to do any further damage,'' Howard said.

Here the Red Wings' lines and defense pairings tonight:

Franzen-Datsyuk-Bertuzzi

Filppula-Zetterberg-Hudler

Miller-Helm-Cleary

Emmerton-Abdelkader-Holmstrom

Lidstrom-White

Kronwall-Stuart

Ericsson-Kindl

MacDonald (starting)

Conklin

Coach Mike Babcock said Pavel Datsyuk will continue to avoid taking most faceoffs.

"He's got a – I don't even know – hand, wrist, forearm,'' Babcock said. "He just doesn't feel like he should take (faceoffs) right now. He can take them at key times of the game if we need him. We're just going to back him off for a bit and get him ready to go.''