DETROIT -- Considering the Red Wings' recent rash of injuries, it was a welcome sight to see Pavel Datsyuk skating with his teammates Monday.

In late June, Datsyuk had surgery to repair ruptured tendons in his right ankle and it was estimated he would be able to return in mid-November.

Datsyuk, who skated for just the beginning of Monday's practice, said the timetable remains the same.

"Feels better than when I started skate, but it's hard to keep good pace," Datsyuk said. "Team skates fast. Feel more confident but it's not close yet."

Datsyuk has been skating on his own for a couple of weeks.

"It's a tough one first time skate with team," Datsyuk said. "You're always the last guy. I need more skate with team and keep pace and push myself."

Although Datsyuk's return is not imminent, his presence was encouraging for the Wings.

"It was great," Niklas Kronwall said. "Anytime he’s around the team it feels good. It was awesome to see him out there again."

Said Justin Abdelkader: "He’s still a ways away, but it was nice seeing him skate with the team for a little bit. Obviously he’s a big part of this group going forward."

Datsyuk said once he is able to participate in full practices, then he will travel with the team.

GREEN, QUINCEY, RICHARDS OUT: While Datsyuk was in practice, several others were absent.

Defensemen Mike Green and Kyle Quincey, both injured in Friday's game in Calgary, did not skate.

Green, who was hit in the first period by Calgary's Josh Jooris, appeared to be favoring his right shoulder.

Wings general manager Ken Holland said Green is expected to miss two to three weeks.

Quincey is currently in the midst of the concussion protocol after being hit by Sam Bennett in the third period.

"He got hit in Calgary, woke up Saturday morning, didn’t feel great," Holland said. "Probably out for the weekend. Still didn’t feel great today. Usually wait 5-7 days to be symptom free, so if he doesn’t feel great today that means Quincey is probably out through the weekend. Beyond that I don’t know. Quincey is probably out the next three games and then we’ll monitor."

Brad Richards, who returned to Detroit early because of a back injury and is on short-term injured reserve, also missed practice.

"Gone to see a specialist in New York, lower back bothering him," Holland said. "Don’t think it’s serious but wants to make sure."

Johan Franzen, who played in the first two games, remains out of practice.

Alexey Marchenko, who flew across the country to get to Vancouver in time for Saturday's game, will get another chance to play Tuesday in Detroit.

"Him and I talked before the game about not having any excuses but the reality is he had a hard travel day and it’s a hard situation to be in for sure," Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "I thought he played probably not good enough through two periods, like the rest of our team. I thought he was better in the third. He’s somebody that I think can help us because he can break pucks out and do things under pressure, so we’ll see tomorrow night."

HURRICANES LIKE TO SHOOT: The last two games the Wings have played against the Carolina Hurricanes, the Hurricanes have dominated in shots.

In the first game in Carolina on Oct. 10, the Hurricanes out-shot the Wings 47-19, including 18-2 in the first period.

In the second game in Detroit on Oct. 16, the Hurricanes out-shot the Wings 36-20, including 13-5 in the first period.

The Wings get their third shot at the Hurricanes Tuesday night at home.

"I think the core of the game boils down to that lots of times – who wins more puck races and puck battles," Blashill said. "So in simplistic terms we got to do a better job of that. They come at you hard, they forecheck hard. We got to do a better job of getting the puck out of our zone. So from breakouts, whether it’s by creating some more room for our puck-retriever guys or whether it’s great support from the other players and making sure we don’t turn the puck over, that’s a huge, huge key, but beyond that it’s winning those one-on-one battles."

There was some improvement on the trip but the Wings want to see more.

"We have a ways to go," Abdelkader said. "Structure has to be tighter, we have to be above guys. Carolina is a team that’s going to chip pucks in, get pucks on you, make it hard on you, make you go 200 feet. They’re a team that throws everything at the net. We want to play a puck-possession game and that starts by winning face-offs and hanging onto pucks."

LINEUP CHANGES: Blashill said he would name Tuesday's starting goaltender after the morning skate.

There will be one lineup change.

"We’ll look at potentially getting (Tomas) Jurco in tomorrow," Blashill said.

The defense pairs will remain the same due to injuries.