ST. PAUL, Minn. — Derek Lalonde sounded optimistic about Filip Hronek and the Detroit Red Wings were gleeful about Ben Chiarot.
The Wings’ focus as they head into Saturday’s matinee against the Ottawa Senators is to end a four-game skid, and they may have Hronek available. He wasn’t able to finish Wednesday’s game after getting slammed in open ice by Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Reaves — but not for lack of desire.
“He actually wanted to come back, which is a really good sign,” Lalonde said shortly after the Wings’ 4-1 loss at Xcel Energy Center. “The Minnesota doctor was cautious and held him out, probably the right thing, especially in today’s day and age with the contact to the head. The fact he wanted to come back, he seemed in pretty good spirits, is hopefully a pretty good sign going forward.”
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As much as the Wings were disappointed in the outcome, they were pleased with how they pushed back — especially Chiarot, who had enough of Reaves after a hit on Gustav Lindstrom early in the second period and dropped the gloves for a brief punch-up.
“Incredible,” David Perron said. “We don’t expect anyone to have to do this. We don’t have, so to speak, ‘a tough guy,’ but for him to do that was pretty special.”
Chiarot said, “I just thought it was important to show we are not going to be pushed around. Doesn’t matter if it’s one of the toughest guys in the league or anyone else. We can’t let that go on.”
The fight didn’t last long, as Chiarot lost his balance, but his willingness to engage mattered.
“I thought Benny did a really good job with his fight,” Lalonde said. “And it’s crazy, but our game started to turn around. We just picked our game up physically. It’s almost like we had to get into the fight. Probably had a lot to do with Benny sticking up for a teammate, but we don’t have a player like that. I don’t know if we’ll ever have a player like that, or even want a player like that, so you’re not going to have that, but you can be tough in other ways. You can be tough on your forecheck, you can be tougher protecting your net. I thought for the most part, we pushed back pretty well.”
The Wings are banged up as it is, with Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, Robby Fabbri and Filip Zadina all recovering from injuries or surgery, and Jakub Vrana in the players assistance program.
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There was no penalty on Reaves’ hit. Hronek had his head down and paid for it.
“I think Fil would want his play back,” Lalonde said. “He was exposing himself. I talked to him really quickly — I think he thought there was a penalty on the play, and he was waiting for his goalie to come out. As crazy as that sounds, it makes a little more sense now. But I’m sensitive to any contact to the head. In this day and age, we know what head contact is about.
“I know Reaves was not malicious with it, but it’s a shoulder on the head and the result is contact to the head.”
Chiarot likewise noted Hronek made himself vulnerable.
“I guess Fil had the puck, but he kind of was looking back,” Chiarot said. “He was kind of in a tough spot. Obviously when a guy like that is on the ice, those things can happen. Tough one to watch.”
Hronek will need to see a doctor back in Detroit before playing again, but his coherence after the hit was encouraging.
“The fact he was pushing to come back and was extremely disappointed, to the point of being upset, I hope is a good sign,” Lalonde said. “But they did the right thing.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
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