Henrik Zetterberg left practice early today with a slight groin strain. He's a maybe for Thursday's game against Vancouver.

"That's what happens when the coach gives them a day off," joked coach Mike Babcock, whose team visited the White House yesterday. "It won't happen again this year."

The team is going to wait to see how Zetterberg's injury is tomorrow morning before making a decision on how to fill his spot if he can't play. My guess is that Zetterberg won't be in the lineup tomorrow. Groin strains that cause you to leave a practice don't usually heal overnight. Add in that Babcock totally shuffled the second, third and fourth lines at practice as though to prepare for a game without Zetterberg.

Darren McCarty isn't eligible to come off the injured reserve yet. Should the Red Wings need to call up a player from Grand Rapids, the Griffins are at home. A player could get the call in the morning and be in Detroit ready to play at night. Perhaps a more likely option is that Derek Meech could play forward on a fill-in basis as he did last season.

Babcock said that if Zetterberg plays, he'll have Johan Franzen and Mikael Samuelsson as linemates. Babcock said that he doesn't like how Jiri Hudler becomes pass-oriented on Zetterberg's line and expects Hudler to shoot more on a line with Valtteri Filppula and Dan Cleary.

If Zetterberg isn't ready to play, then the Red Wings will likely go will line similar to the ones used in practice today with Filppula taking Z's spot and the third and fourth lines being shuffled ...

Holmstrom-Datsyuk-Hossa
Franzen-Filppula-Samuelsson
Hudler-Draper-Cleary
TBA-Kopecky-Maltby