Posted by Pierre LeBrun
CHICAGO -- Hawks winger Martin Havlat (upper-body injury), as you might expect, did not practice Saturday. Neither did goalie Nikolai Khabibulin (lower-body injury).
"Khabby is doing better today," said Hawks coach Joel Quenneville. "We'll see how he presents tomorrow. But good progress. And Marty, as well. I thought Marty really looked good today. Hopefully, he progresses today in the same fashion for tomorrow and [there's] a chance he could play tomorrow."
This being playoff time, conference finals at that, figuring out injuries is nearly impossible. Seems to us there's no way Havlat plays if he did indeed get his bell rung. He was already walking around with a limp after taking a hard hit in Game 1.
But, for the record, Quenneville said both are a possibility for Sunday's Game 4. If not, Cristobal Huet starts in goal for the Hawks and Colin Fraser replaces Havlat in the lineup.
Huet shut out the Wings on Friday night in the 21:52 of game action he saw after replacing Khabibulin.
"It's always hard to come into a game. I wasn't really tested," said Huet. "The guys did a good job in front of me, so really, my test is going to be tomorrow."
Wait a minute, a reporter asked, does that mean you're starting for sure Sunday?
"I haven't heard from Nik, so I don't know. But I assume," said Huet.
Fraser, meanwhile, is ready if he gets the call for Havlat.
"Time will tell if I am or not," said Fraser. "I haven't been told either way. I'm just going to approach it like I am playing. Hopefully Marty is all right. If he's good to go, obviously that's better for our team. He's our top player, so we want him healthy."
Red Wings injuries
Hart Trophy nominee Pavel Datsyuk and veteran forward Kris Draper did not practice Saturday.
"Draper can't play," said Wings coach Mike Babcock. "Abbie [Justin Abdelkader] is going to go in his spot. [It will] be good for him, play his natural position. Datsyuk is going to be the same thing as it was the day before. We'll see. I noticed his stuff was hanging up. They're hoping they can get him in his boot and get him going."
Datsyuk took a shot off his foot in Game 2.
More hit talk
Here's more of what was said Saturday about the Niklas Kronwall hit on Havlat that we didn't fit into our main story.
"First of all, it wasn't worth [the five-minute major and game misconduct]," said Wings forward Kirk Maltby. "I think it was a clean, good hit. And anyone in here who knows Nik knows he hits hard, but he's not trying to hurt somebody. He's doing what he has to do to put our team in the best position to win. It's just how the league is trying to justify head shots. I think sometimes they err on the side of caution.
"It's unfortunate for Nik, but put in the same position, I think all of us would want him to do the same thing."
Babcock pointed out that it wasn't his team's reputation to cross the line.
"The thing about this play, I don't know if you've been following us over the years, we're not that penalized a team," he said. "We're not cross checking your head after the whistle. We're not punching you in the head. We're not doing any of that. We're just playing the game.
"This is the Detroit Red Wings you're talking about, that goon squad," he added with a touch of sarcasm.
Oh, there's a series
Overshadowed by the Kronwall hit is the fact the Hawks have pulled back into this series.
"Anyone who has won the prize knows how hard it is," said Babcock. "The greatest thing about it is it's that hard to do. It's supposed to be hard. It's not supposed to be easy. We're playing a really good team. Now, on the other side of it, I'm sure they felt like they could have won Game 2. Let's just keep playing."
ESPN.com Stanley Cup playoffs blog
