An MRI revealed no damage and the injury is listed as a sprained shoulder.
Howard is optimistic he will return before the playoffs in fact he said he would like to play Wednesday at home against St. Louis. But that might be pushing it.
“I’ll be ready for the playoffs. We got enough games left. Still a couple of weeks away,” Howard said. “Hopefully this doesn’t keep me out (too long). Hopefully I can come back possibly Wednesday. I’m going to do the best I can to try to get back as soon as possible, icing it like crazy and continue to work with (trainers).”
The Red Wings have recalled Thomas McCollum from the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL to backup Joey MacDonald on Monday night against Chicago. McCollum was the teams top pick in the 2008 entry draft (30th overall).
Chris Osgood’s future on the other hand seems a little bit more uncertain as he continues to recover from sports hernia surgery. Osgood said that he hopes to get back on the ice and begin practicing again on Tuesday or Wednesday. Ideally he would like to get in 7-8 practices before the playoffs begin so he can be ready to go when he is eligible to come off the Long Term Injured Reserve on April 8th.
Osgood had reason to celebrate though.
Friday, Osgood’s wife Jenna gave birth to the couples third child, Max.
Johan Franzen indicated that he will play Monday night against Chicago as he has been recovering for a sore groin.
“I’m playing tomorrow,” Franzen said after Sunday’s practice. “I was skating with max speed. Usually takes 2-3 games to get back to 100 percent.”
Head coach Mike Babcock wasn’t as quick to insert Franzen back into the lineup saying that they will wait to see how he does Monday during the morning skate.
Pavel Datsyuk who is still dealing with a lower body injury will out for a little while longer. Babcock mentioned that Datsyuk will look to get back into the lineup Wednesday against St. Louis or Saturday in Nashville.
Source: Mlive.com
