NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Matt Luff stayed on the ice as long as possible for the Detroit Red Wings’ morning skate, an opportunity to savor being called up again.
It has been a challenging season for the 25-year-old, who spent three months recovering from a nasty injury at a time he was hoping to be helping either the Wings or the Wings’ AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids win, and further his bid for a contract extension.
“Any chance you get to play for an NHL team, it’s pretty fun and a good opportunity, especially early on in the year, to prove yourself,” Luff said Tuesday. “I’m just getting back to my game and showing that for a guy who is up for contract, that I can play here or in Grand Rapids. I want to stay here.”
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Luff was back as an insurance player this week, because as many as three regulars were game-time decisions entering Tuesday’s outing against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. This is Luff’s second stint this season with the Wings; he had one goal over the seven games he appeared in from Oct. 27-Nov. 8. In that span he overcame a puck to the face that left a gash so big a trainer could stick two fingers through Luff’s chin, but an illegal hit from Montreal rookie Juraj Slafkovsky proved too much.
Slafkovsky hit Luff from behind into the boards during the third period of the Nov. 8 game. There was some initial question about where Luff was hurt, exacly.
“It was funny, when I got hit, my phone was all — my mom was like, ‘How’s your face?‘ ” Luff said. “And honestly, it wasn’t my face. When I went into the medical room, they were like, ‘How’s your head, how’s your neck?‘ And it was none of that. So it’s just funny how it works out. I got surgery the day after — well, not really surgery.”
Specifics of the injury aside, it left Luff with little to do for too long.
“It was disappointing,” he said. “From surgery to first game back in GR, 11½-12 weeks. I put a lot of pressure on myself to come back, but to miss three months is a tough situation.”
Luff played 23 of his 94 career NHL games with the Predators. He signed a two-way deal with the Wings last summer, and while his career has skewed more minor-league more than NHL, he is in a good spot with the organization — someone who is a good veteran at the AHL level and as, coach Derek Lalonde put it, among “reliable, serviceable players,” available to the Wings just in case.
What the week holds for Luff remains to be seen, but at least he is healthy. That hit by Slafkovsky — which earned a two-game suspension from the NHL department of player safety — took time to recover from, physically and mentally. Luff said Slafkovsky reached out to apologize, but it took a while before Luff could even stomach seeing what happened.
“When I finally watched a replay, I was doing a podcast with a buddy, he showed me the hit for the first time,” Luff said. “I didn’t watch it right away. I was like, ‘Yeah, it looks bad.’
“He sent me a DM, I guess that’s all you can do. You can’t change what happened. Things happen fast.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
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