Detroit — The Red Wings will not have forward Michael Rasmussen for the foreseeable future.
Exactly how long is yet to be determined, but doesn’t sound soon.
Coach Derek Lalonde confirmed Sunday Rasmussen is out “indefinitely,” without giving a general timeframe. Lalonde said the Wings might know more about Rasmussen’s situation in a matter of days.
Rasmussen was hurt early in Saturday’s 3-0 loss against Tampa Bay. Rasmussen took a slapshot from Tampa’s Zach Bogosian flush on his kneecap and was immediate pain. Rasmussen had difficulty getting up on his skates, and needed help to get off the ice, where he immediately headed to the Wings’ locker room.
Rasmussen has 10 goals and 19 assists for 29 points, with a plus-2 plus-minus rating. The 6-foot-6 center is evolving into the physical, two-way force the Wings envisioned when they drafted Rasmussen in the first round, (ninth overall) in 2017.
Teammates were disappointed for Rasmussen, who has taken major strides in recent months.
“Just what he’s brought to our team, not just on the score sheet but physicality, penalty kill, doing all the little things it takes to win, it just hurts,” captain Dylan Larkin said. “I feel for him, we all do. Just his commitment to our team, the leadership he brings. He’s really found a great role and he’s expanded his game in that role.
“It just sucks for him right now.”
While Rasmussen is out for now, the Wings are likely to have Lucas Raymond (lower-body injury) return in one of the two upcoming games Monday or Tuesday in Ottawa.
Raymond has missed the last eight games after colliding Feb. 10 in practice with Ben Chiarot.
Raymond participated during the Wings’ optional skate Sunday, where Lalonde was further encouraged by Raymond’s progress. Raymond’s availability has been day-to-day for the last several days, so a return seems imminent.
Also available would be Jakub Vrana, who was a healthy scratch against Tampa.
Lalonde has scratched Vrana, Filip Zadina, Dominik Kubalik and Jonatan Berggren in recent games, thanks to the Wings surplus of healthy forwards.
Don’t get too low
The Wings were realistic about Saturday’s loss, a game in which Tampa goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was sensational with 45 saves.
Vasilevskiy, arguably the best goaltender in the NHL, can singlehandedly turn a game around like that. And Vasilevskiy earned Tampa the victory — if not singlehandedly, then close to it — Saturday.
But the Wings have to move on quickly from the loss.
“One thing I talked about with the guys right after was with all this winning we’ve done lately, we’ve done a good job of not getting too high,” Lalonde said. “That has led to good performances, good start after good start.
“It’s the same message. Don’t get too low. We got to move on from this. We’re in a really fun chase for a playoff spot. Embrace it, but these are the things that go into it. It would be really easy to put your head down and feel sorry for yourself, things didn’t go our way tonight.
“But we definitely could’ve done more.”
Larkin supplied the same line of thinking.
“We’re not trying to get too low here,” Larkin said. “We played a pretty good game. It’s one of our best games five on five in a long time. We just didn’t score.”
Pittsburgh entered Sunday’s games with the second and last wild-card spot, with five teams trailing them within five points. Ottawa is the team five behind, while the Wings trailed by one point. There’s a potential for a massive sprint to the finish.
“Since the All-Star break we’ve had losses, but we’ve responded really well and we’re going to have to do that again,” Larkin said. “We’re going to have to do it the rest of the way. We’re not going to win out, it would be awesome if we did but it would be unrealistic. We have to keep responding well and we’re treating this like our playoffs right now because it is. We’re fighting for our lives.”
“It’s a great opportunity on the road in Ottawa. Our power play has been good on the road, and we’ve been playing well on the road. We put ourselves in a great position. We just have to keep playing like that.”
Red Wings at Senators
▶ Faceoff: 7 p.m., Monday, Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, Ontario.
▶ TV/radio: BSD/97.1 FM
▶ Outlook: The Senators (28-26-4) won Saturday in Montreal and are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games, within striking distance of the playoffs. …. This is the makeup of a game postponed before Christmas because of inclement weather in Ottawa. … LW Brady Tkachuk (61 points) and LW Tim Stutzle (26 goals) lead a dangerous offensive attack.
tkulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan