"Obviously, I've got my work cut out for me, but it's coming. So just happy to be out there," the 33-year-old center said. "Obviously, the legs are tired. We've got pretty good skates in practices, but I feel better than Day One. I think I feel pretty good about my progress and, you know, just getting in shape, I guess, pretty much."
Toews missed last season with chronic immune response syndrome. The Blackhawks captain has participated in all five days they have held training camp this month, including a three-period scrimmage (15 minutes each period) Tuesday.
He was the center on a line with Dominik Kubalik at left wing and Philipp Kurashev at right wing against Detroit. He got the secondary assist on Kubalik's goal to tie the game 1-1 16:50 into the first period, had three shots on goal, won 15 of 21 face-offs (71.4 percent), and scored on the first attempt of the shootout.
Coach Jeremy Colliton said he didn't intend to play Toews as much as he did.
"You know, we had the two-minute shift at the beginning of overtime, that wasn't planned either," Colliton said. "And then of course you throw him out there for a couple of face-offs and stuff like that, and we did have a lot of power plays."
Toews played 3:28 on the power play and 1:12 on the penalty kill.
"No, I wasn't planning [on that], but he looked good," Colliton said. "He responded better than I hoped, so we'll see. We'll monitor it, take it day by day, see how he feels tomorrow. But it was nice to have him back, obviously."