Team looks to Veleno in Rasmussen’s absence
DETROIT >> The Red Wings will miss forward Michael Rasmussen’s size and grit when they play this weekend.
Rasmussen (upper body) was hurt late in Monday’s victory in Tampa and will not play today against the New York Rangers. Coach Derek Lalonde wasn’t optimistic about Rasmussen being available Sunday against Buffalo, either.
In Rasmussen’s place, the Wings are hoping Joe Veleno can supply some of the ingredients Rasmussen brings to the table.
Veleno has been skating with Andrew Copp and Christian Fischer the last couple of days, as Lalonde looks to keep that line as productive as it has been in recent weeks.
“You hope Joe can give us very similar type of play as far as some size, skating and
getting to those hard areas,” Lalonde said.
This is a big opportunity for Veleno, who has seen his ice time dwindle in recent games. Veleno played only 4 minutes, 42 seconds on six shifts against Tampa and has played beyond 10 minutes only once in the last four games.
It’s in stark contrast to earlier this season when captain Dylan Larkin was out of the lineup. Veleno stepped in, played well over 20 minutes and looked on his way to a truly big season (Veleno still has career highs with 11 goals and 15 assists).
Lalonde continues to see some flaws in Veleno’s game that keeps the former firstround draft pick from reaching full potential. Mainly it’s Veleno’s consistency, or lack thereof.
This is another chance for Veleno to break through.
“You’re seeking consistency from him,” Lalonde said. “The first time Dylan was out, there were some games he (Veleno) was at 20-22 minutes, playing No. 1 or 2 center and there was some growth in that. There are just some inconsistencies in his game. Last game it got away from us a little bit in that he only had a handful of minutes, but Tampa is a different animal on the road. Every time I was ready to have him up, (Brayden) Point and (Nikita) Kucherov were coming out and then the special teams started rolling. We kind of got into a little rhythm and we wanted to get through as many minutes as we could.