#LGRW Daily: Red Wings look to rebound vs. division-leading Hurricanes

DETROIT -- After suffering a 7-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on March 25, the Detroit Red Wings picked themselves up and played good hockey for the next two weeks.

And now, after another 7-1 loss to the Predators at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night, Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said his club needs to repeat its bounce-back effort as it travels to Carolina to face the Central Division-leading Hurricanes in a two-game series that begins Saturday at 7 p.m.
"We just beat Tampa, 5-1, we swept Columbus, so we're battling like crazy to become a better hockey team," Blashill said Friday. "We understand that we've got to grind every day to get better. It's a slow process lots of times. You're going to get knocked down and you've got to keep getting back up. Our guys have consistently got back up and worked and tried to be better."

The Red Wings come into the series with a record of 13-23-6 (32 points), while the Hurricanes sit atop the division at 27-9-3 (56 points), one point ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Detroit is 2-3 so far this season against Carolina.
The Wings have been bit by the injury bug lately, with forwards Robby Fabbri and Sam Gagner out of the lineup for at least Saturday's game, and Blashill said Friday that he expects Bobby Ryan to miss the rest of the season with an upper-body injury.
And of course, top-line forward Tyler Bertuzzi's return status remains unclear after being sidelined since January 30, missing the last 32 games.
But Blashill said his team can't make excuses for the man-games lost to injury or the hardships of a rebuild. He said his players need to use this adversity as a learning experience and work every day to become a winning team.
"If it's always easy, you don't learn much," Blashill said. "You've got to go through hard stretches and hard times. Any thought that this is ever going to be an easy thing where we miraculously show up and we're winning games every night is crazy. It's not how it happens. You have to learn lessons along the way. Our job is just keep trying to work to get better."
Those lessons are set to be renewed Saturday against a red-hot Hurricanes team which has won three games in a row and seven of their last nine.
Puck drop for Saturday's matchup from PNC Arena is set for 7:00 p.m., with the TV broadcast on Bally Sports Detroit Plus and radio broadcast on the Red Wings Radio Network.

Red Wings Storylines

• Fourth-line forward Adam Erne has easily been the Red Wings' most improved player this season. After earning just two goals in 56 games last season, Erne has already eclipsed his career high with nine goals in 34 games. The forward comes into the series against Carolina riding a five-game point streak.

• After being claimed off waivers by the Wings on January 9, it took defenseman Christian Djoos some time to get acclimated to Detroit's systems. But recently, the 26-year-old Swede has picked up his game, earning three points in his last five games, currently sitting second among Wings defensemen with 10 points.
• Goaltender Jonathan Bernier returned to the Wings' lineup on Thursday after missing the last 10 games with a lower-body injury. Bernier struggled on Thursday, giving up seven goals, but in four games before his injury, the 32-year-old netminder played outstanding, helping Detroit go 3-1, saving 127 of 135 shots in that span.

Scouting the Hurricanes

• Forward Sebastian Aho leads the Hurricanes with 37 points this season and his 16 goals are tied for 15th-most in the NHL. Aho has earned four points in his last two games and has three points in five games against the Red Wings this season.
• Defenseman Dougie Hamilton is third on the team with 31 points this season, and he's been one of the most consistent offensive defensemen in the NHL, earning a 14-game point streak from February 27 - March 27. Hamilton comes into the series with five points in five games against Detroit this year and 15 points in 23 career games against the Wings.
• Goaltenders James Reimer and Alex Nedeljkovic have been fantastic platoon partners this season for the Hurricanes, combining for to go 23-8-3 this season. While Reimer has the better record between the two, at 14-4-1, Nedeljkovic actually has better numbers, with a 1.98 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage, compared to Reimer's 2.71 GAA and .905 save percentage.