Lidstrom Hurt

[Raji]

The Red Wings left Colorado celebrating a victory that ended a six-game skid and elated that a sprained right knee isn't expected to sideline captain Nicklas Lidstrom for too long.


"It doesn't sound like it's anything major," Mike Babcock said after coaching the Wings to a 4-0 victory over the Avalanche on Monday night at the Pepsi Center. "I don't know if he's going to be out a week or 10 days, but he's got something mild on the inside of his knee. We need to freshen him up, anyway.

"I wasn't very impressed with what happened. It was a situation I thought our guys responded well from. He doesn't get hit very often, and I didn't like the hit. I thought the hit was high and the guy finished his head. To me, a five-time Norris Trophy winner shouldn't be having to protect his head."

Two goals from Henrik Zetterberg and one each from Chris Chelios and Valtteri Filppula sealed the victory.

Lidstrom was injured about six minutes into the game when he was crushed into the boards on a monstrous check by Ian Laperriere. No penalty was called.

"I thought it was a clean hit, so did the referee," Laperriere said. "I play hard and clean, but I've been on the other side and I would have done the same thing that Aaron Downey did. I hope Lidstrom's not hurt."

Downey made Laperriere pay with about five minutes left in the first period, pounding Laperriere until he lay crouched on the ice.

"When the elbows are up, when you hit the five-time Norris winner, arguably one of the best defensemen ever to play the game, it's a joke," said Downey of the hit. "So my message is simple: The next time anyone runs any of our guys in a way that it shouldn't be done ... the same thing is going to happen again. Fair justice is fair justice."

The hit led to so tense a game that early in the third period, after Downey got mixed up with Laperriere again only to be jumped from behind by Cody McLeod, Babcock exchanged heated words across the bench divider with Avs assistant Tony Granato, much like former Wings coach Scotty Bowman and former Avs coach Marc Crawford did during the height of the Detroit-Colorado rivalry.

Babcock brushed off the incident, saying the two had a little disagreement. Chris Osgood, a carryover from the old rivalry, saw it differently.

"Scotty-Crawford, yeah, it was pretty close," he said. "The game was fiery ever since that hit on Nick. I thought Downs did a great job standing up for the guys and for Nick. In that aspect it was a big game for us because we came together; the younger guys played a big part, and Downs did a great job. It'll be better for us if we need guys in the playoffs that they've played in games like this now."

Osgood played well in his first start since being pulled twice in his previous two games, turning away the few quality chances the Wings allowed the Avs to have.

Lidstrom watched the rest of the game from the dressing room, but left before talking to reporters. Teammates seemed upbeat by his demeanor.

"In between periods he was icing it and just resting and doing some treatment," Kirk Maltby said. "He was coherent, he was fine, and he knew where he was. I patted him on the back. I think the biggest concern is going to be the knee."

Henrik Zetterberg called Laperriere's actions "a little lack of respect."

That Lidstrom may not be out long is tremendous news given that he plays in every key situation and averages about 28 minutes a game.

He was chasing the puck when Laperriere zeroed in on him, using his forearm to smash Lidstrom into the glass so hard Lidstrom dropped to the ice. He got up but couldn't control his legs, and within seconds, referee Mike Hasenfratz skated over and held him against the glass.

Teammates rallied around, helping Lidstrom off the ice and then delivering a knock-out punch of their own.


Raji