Notes: Banged up blue line; DeKeyser out four to six weeks

DETROIT -After Wednesday's practice at the BELFOR Training Center, Wings coach Jeff Blashill gave another partial update on the condition of Detroit defenseman Danny DeKeyser.
"We're waiting on the results of a CT scan," Blashill said. "We're estimating four to six weeks. We'll know more after the scan, we haven't heard the results yet."

Blashill couldn't say whether DeKeyser's upper-body injury will require surgery or not. Until the results of the scan are known, there isn't a definitive answer on DeKeyser's condition.
The only certainty is the Detroit native is out of the lineup for several weeks.
DeKeyser's injury occurred late in the second period of Tuesday's 6-5 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
With the Lightning on the power play, DeKeyser blocked a Steven Stamkos shot and immediately favored his left hand and/or wrist, though he continued to play.
At the end of the period, DeKeyser was in obvious pain and did not return to action.
This is the second time this season DeKeyser has suffered an upper-body injury. He missed eight games from Oct. 15 - Nov. 1 with an injury to his right hand/wrist area.
DeKeyser is having a solid season for the Red Wings. In 20 games, he has one goal among seven points, is plus-4 and is second among defensemen in total ice time, averaging 21:17.
Defenseman Mike Green leads the Wings in ice time with a 22:01 average per game, followed by center Dylan Larkin's 21:34.
With DeKeyser out, the Red Wings still have a full complement of players, but if another injury occurs, they could be shorthanded.
Blashill indicated the Wings are contemplating calling up someone from the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins after the Griffins' home game tonight against San Antonio.
"Yeah, we'll look at potentially making a recall here tonight after (their) game. We'll see how the game goes for them," Blashill said. (We'll) make decisions on that tonight. We'll anticipate playing the players we have available to us, but we want to make sure we have enough healthy bodies and have an extra body in case something were to happen."
If the Wings make a callup from Grand Rapids, it will be a defenseman who can kill penalties, so the likely candidates are Joe Hicketts and Libor Sulak.

DALEY STILL NOT SKATING:On Nov. 28, defenseman Trevor Daley left the game against the St. Louis Blues in the first period with a lower-body injury. He has missed Detroit's last three games and has not resumed practicing with the team.
"Daley did not skate today. We're hoping and anticipating that he skates tomorrow (Thursday) on his own and that would be seen as step one of kind of getting back," Blashill said. "Once he gets skating on his own, I'd probably say it would probably be 4-5 days after that before he'd be able to play, but that's a total 'guesstimation.'"
If Blashill's guess is correct, Daley could return as early as Monday's home game versus the Los Angeles Kings.
In 21 games, Daley has one goal (a game winner) among five points, is plus-2 with an ice time average of 18:34 per game.

DIPLOMATIC ATHANASIOU MOVES ON:Though he was still dazed and confused after being for called for embellishment when he was hooked to the ice by Tampa Bay's Alex Killorn in the third period of Tuesday's 6-5 shootout loss, Andreas Athanasiou was tactful when he addressed the situation.
"Obviously, I didn't want to dive, I wanted to score. Everyone makes mistakes. Some people have tough nights, even the refs," Athanasiou said. "I think they've been having some rough nights, but the game is really fast, so you got to be paying attention and make sure you're paying attention to detail because anytime that stick is horizontal, it's a hook.
"Call one or the other, call me for the embellishment if you think it's that and then don't call the hook. But it's a pretty clear hook there. Everyone makes mistakes. Just got to move on from it and get ready for the next game."
With the Red Wings up 5-3 in the third period, it appeared Athanasiou was about to get a breakaway on Lightning netminder Eddie Pasquale, but instead he was assessed a minor penalty for embellishment. It was a significant call/non-call.
"It's definitely a game changer for sure, so it definitely hurts, but it's something you can't control," Athanasiou said. "I think everyone who saw the play knows what the right call was. It sucks, going from a possible penalty shot or even just having the extra man out there for two minutes. It sucks for sure. Can't do much about it.
"I thought it was going to be a penalty shot, to be honest. I don't know. When you're going at a fast speed, someone tugs at your leg, it's not that easy to stay balanced, especially when you're expecting something that's not part of the game to happen. It's hard to react.
"Hooking, it's a penalty and obviously you want to fight through it. Obviously, I wanted to fight through on a breakaway, but maybe the ref had some other thoughts going through his head. But it's in the past. Can't do anything about it now. Just move forward.
"Hopefully he (the referee) pays a lot more attention in the upcoming games and focuses on making the right calls. That's all they can do."
NYQUIST HEATS UP:When he was in college, playing for the Maine Black Bears, Gustav Nyquist was one of college hockey's top scorers. In fact, as a sophomore in 2009-10, he led the nation in scoring with 19 goals and 42 assists for 61 points.

Considered a better assist man than a goal scorer in college, when he joined the Wings, he began to display a goal-scoring touch, hitting the 20-plus goal mark three times (28 in 2013-14, 27 in 2014-15 and 21 in 2017-18) in his Detroit career, which spans over parts of eight seasons.
This season, Nyquist is in the last year of his contract and he is on pace to have his most productive season with Detroit. He's second on the Wings in scoring (6-17-23), is plus-2 and is averaging 17:12 in ice time per game.
After a slow start scoring goals, he has lit the lamp four times in his last five games and has accumulated seven points in his last five contests.
"It's been nice to put the puck in the net here the last few games," Nyquist said. "I still think I've created enough chances to probably score a little more but overall it's been, production-wise, going pretty well. So that's nice."
Nyquist was adamant that being in the last year of his four-year deal has nothing to do with his increased numbers.
"No, I don't think so. I haven't thought about it too much," Nyquist said when asked if his contract has been on his mind. "The further we play here, we've been a good team, that's really what I'm focusing on. It's been fun here the last month. We've played really good hockey. It helps winning for sure. You're not thinking about that as much."
Yet, if he continues to produce points, he could be moved at the trade deadline or before.
"Over the last few years my name has popped up here and there in trade rumors leading up to the deadline, especially when you're not battling for a playoff spot," Nyquist said. "Right now, we're in a spot where we are battling for a playoff spot and we want to be a team that come trade deadline, we don't want to be sellers by any means, we want to keep what we have in here and go on a good run.
"I think everyone in this room believes we can make the playoffs this year. If it happens that my name pops up, I'll deal with it, but I've been part of it in the past and it's nothing that bothers me."
When he was asked if he hopes to re-sign with the Red Wings, Nyquist was noncommittal.
"We'll see," he said. "It's got to work out for both sides. We'll take that further down the road."