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Detroit Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi has struggled with injuries this season. The Red Wings forward did return to the lineup recently, but has only played 15 games this season.
On Thursday, Red Wings fans watched as Bertuzzi once again left a game with an injury. Detroit won 3-2 over the Vegas Golden Knights, but fans feared the worst.
Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde spoke with the media on Friday. He provided a rather positive update on his team's goal-scoring star.
“I don’t expect it to be (long-term),” Lalonde said, via Detroit Hockey Now. “But it was one of those tweaks, lower body. We thought it was in everyone’s best interest (to sit him).”
Bertuzzi played two periods in Vegas on Thursday. He sat out the third period, leaving the Red Wings with 11 forwards for the rest of the contest.
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“He could feel it was kind of creeping into his game in the second period,” Lalonde told Bally Sports Detroit in a post-game interview. “Trainers pulled him from the third.”
Bertuzzi had been trying to shake off some rust over the last few games. The Red Wings forward has just one point in his last six games since returning from his second injury.
“We’re going to ask of him like we have with everyone else, manage your game, manage your shift lengths, don’t turn pucks over,” Lalonde said. “It takes some time and I think he’s in the middle of that process.”
Detroit had a great start to the season, but have since cooled off. They sit in sixth place in the Atlantic Division, eight points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
