ST. PAUL, Minn. -- When the puck dropped at 11:45 a.m. local time Sunday at the Xcel Energy Center, the Detroit Red Wings were prepared to play.

They started strong and were energetic until the end, beating the Minnesota Wild 2-1 in a shootout.

The early start time, due to NBC’s regional coverage, coupled with all the traveling they have done lately, did not faze the Red Wings.

“I think that’s the earliest one I’ve had in the NHL,” Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. “It’s just a matter of getting yourself going, getting the legs going, getting on the bike before you hit the ice.

“When you have a 1 o’clock game, usually you have breakfast and go back to your room and rest for a little bit. But now there’s no time for it. You have breakfast, come (to the rink) and play the game.”

It was the Red Wings’ third road game in four days -- 64 hours, to be precise -- and they went 3-0. After wins in Tampa Bay and Florida on Thursday and Friday, the team flew home to drop off their dads/brothers/others following their annual fathers trip. Then they flew to Minnesota late Saturday afternoon.

”Pretty tough,” Todd Bertuzzi said. “It’s from flying in from Florida, getting in at 3 in the morning, traveling back here at 5 and then having to go through it again. It’s a lot of back and forth. But give us some credit, we showed up and played hard.”

Their typical pregame meal of pasta and chicken was replaced by eggs and oatmeal.

“I think most of us woke up at 8 o’clock, grabbed breakfast and came over to the rink to play,” Kris Draper said. “I thought we had some pretty good energy. We rolled four lines the majority of the game. The guys were getting into it, playing hard, creating chances. ... This was getting gritty and finding a way to win a game.”

Playing early has its advantages. The team was able to fly home sooner while the Minneapolis area was being hit by a storm expected to drop up to 16 inches of snow.

“Great thing about it is we get to go home now. So it sets up our week better,” coach Mike Babcock said. “I think it should be like baseball, getaway day you always should play early. So I like it.”

More depth on the way

The Red Wings expect to have 14 healthy forwards by the end of the week, as Valtteri Filppula (sprained left MCL) and Mike Modano (lacerated right wrist) are due to return.

Babcock said he doesn’t believe Filppula, who’s missed six games, will play Tuesday at home against San Jose, but said there is a chance for Thursday against Dallas at Joe Louis Arena.

He also confirmed what Modano said last week, that he will return Saturday in Buffalo.

Babcock indicated that, initially, he will keep intact his top two lines, which have been flourishing (Johan Franzen-Henrik Zetterberg-Bertuzzi, Jiri Hudler-Pavel Datsyuk-Danny Cleary). He’ll mix up the third and fourth lines.

“When we get Fil and Mo, that’s another line,” Babcock said. “Fil and Mo and Tommy (Holmstrom) are going to play together, so that’ll be another real good line, two guys who can fly and shoot the puck and make plays. I think we’re going to have a real good, deep team.”