Red Wings Should Have Brad Stuart Back For Game 5

Not much went wrong Thursday for the Detroit Red Wings. They lambasted San Jose 7-1, staying alive in their Western Conference semifinal series. In doing so, they showed signs of a return to form of sorts, dominating a very good opponent from the start and not ever giving them a chance to get into the game.

About the only bad thing that happened was a first-period injury to defenseman Brad Stuart. The veteran went down hard with a lower-body injury after a check by San Jose captain Rob Blake.

While Stuart missed all but about six minutes of Thursday's game, his injury doesn't sound like much of a long-term concern.

It might not have looked good at the time, but Red Wings coach Mike Babcock expects Stuart to be in uniform for Game 5 of the series, which is Saturday night in San Jose.

"Stewie is one of those guys where it doesn't matter, he just plays anyway,'' Babcock said. "The doctor checked him out and everything seems to be fine. He'll be ready to go the next game.''

We'll probably never know if Stuart could have returned to Thursday's game had it not been a colossal thrashing. What appears certain is that his injury wasn't quite as serious as it may have been feared to be.

That's good news for a Detroit team that still needs three wins to continue playing beyond the second round for a fourth straight season.