By Chip Scoggins
DETROIT -- The Wild obviously had an miserable night at Joe Louis Arena in a 5-1 loss to the Red Wings on Thursday.
Lets get to the injury situation first. Goalie Niklas Backstrom did not play after tweaking his groin during the morning skate. Coach Todd Richards said Backstrom is day-to-day. Backstrom said he will see how he feels Friday morning before deciding whether he can play against Buffalo.
"The medical staff told me not to [play]," he said. "It got worse during the morning skate and it was pretty bad after I skated and not so good in the warmup before the game. It was the right decision."
Winger Guillaume Latendresse left the game and was taken to a local hospital for precautionary reasons after getting hit in the back of the head on a high stick by Brian Rafalski. Richards said he doesn't believe the injury is serious and Latendresse was able to fly with the team to Buffalo after the game.
The Wild already was without Brent Burns and Shane Hnidy. Burns warmed up before the game so Richards said there is a chance he might play Friday if he feels better in the morning.
As far as the game, the Wild dug itself a huge hole by giving up three goals halfway through the first period. Harding had not played since Feb. 4 when he aggravated a hip injury while making a save against Edmonton. The Red Wings jumped on him and scored their first goal goal 2 minutes 25 seconds into the game.
Harding got his glove on Johan Franzen's shot, but the puck popped out of his glove and bounced into the goal. "I wasn't very good tonight," Harding said. "It doesn't matter if you find out a minute before the game that you're playing, you always have to be ready. Tonight I let the team down a lot." Nobody blame Harding for the loss. The Red Wings dictated the play, won the battles and got a few good bounces.
