Red Wings' Jimmy Howard is fine after all

Helene St. James, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

DETROIT - The Red Wings have caught a big break on the injury front, as starting goaltender Jimmy Howard has been cleared to play.

General manager Ken Holland told the Detroit Free Press that "all tests have shown nothing," and that Howard will be available to play Thursday when the Wings host the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Howard left 11 minutes into Tuesday's 4-3 overtime loss at Nashville, after allowing a deflection goal that made it 2-0. Few around him knew why: Coach Mike Babcock hadn't heard about the potential vision problems, nor had teammates.

From what's emerged, Howard was "banged around," as Holland put it, during Monday practice. Howard thought he was OK to play, still, but decided otherwise after getting beat twice on seven shots.

The news ws good for the Red Wings because half the team has been injured and the season is only a month old. Forward Mikael Samuelsson missed the game with a sore hand after getting hit by Ian White's shot during the morning skate. Samuelsson had just returned from a groin muscle injury. Johan Franzen missed his fourth game because of a hip flexor but he said he should be ready to play Thursday. Defenseman Brendan Smith, who hurt a shoulder Feb. 2, is aiming for next week. Defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo (shoulder) also has been skating and is nearing a return.

The worst of the bunch remain the two forwards who are dealing with back pain. Darren Helm is with the team but not practicing, while Todd Bertuzzi is in such bad shape he's basically on bed-rest.

"You can't let it get to you," Zetterberg said. "Injuries are part of the game. Unfortunately, we have a lot. We've just got to battle through it."

Howard's departure created the opportunity for Jonas Gustavsson to play his first game since pulling his groin muscle after relieving Howard in the third period of the opening night's game at St. Louis.

"You just have to find a way to be mentally ready," Gustavsson said. "You can't just sit there and be tired. You've just got to be there to support the guys and when something happens, you have to try to be ready. That's how I approached this game. It wasn't tough for me because it was my first game since the first game of the year. I was excited even though I didn't start the game. I tried to bring that to the game."

Helene St. James also writes for the Detroit Free Press