Datsyuk Returns Against Coyotes

The Red Wings begin their longest road trip of the season tonight in Phoenix, still looking for their first road win of the year. They are 3-0-1 at Joe Louis Arena and 0-3 elsewhere, including one “home” game played in Stockholm.

The Wings will get a boost as Pavel Datsyuk returns to the lineup. When asked if he could do everything he could do before a shoulder injury knocked him out for two games, Datsyuk joked, “Well, I didn’t score before. I hope to maybe score.”

With Datsyuk in, Brad May and Patrick Eaves will be the healthy scratches.

Datsyuk will play with Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom, Valtteri Filppula will center Ville Leino and Jason Williams, Kris Draper will center Dan Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi, and the fourth line will be Darren Helm between Justin Abdelkader and Kirk Maltby.