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Detroit Red Wings lose Trevor Daley to broken foot

The Red Wings’ sick bay swelled as another veteran defenseman took up residence. Already reeling from injuries to two veteran defensemen, the Wings found out Monday that Trevor Daley will miss three-to-five weeks with a broken foot. Coach Jeff Blashill announced the news after the 4-3 shootout loss to Florida at Little Caesars Arena. It happened “this morning,” Blashill said. “I didn’t think it was a big deal. Then it’s a big deal.” The Wings are also without defenseman Mike Green (out since Dec. 14 with a foot/ankle injury) and Danny DeKeyser (out since Dec. with a hand injury) Blashill said over the weekend both are “weeks away.” The Wings’ rough start to the season reflected them playing without Green, Daley, Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson. Now they’re faced with a similar situation, forced to rely more heavily on inexperienced players. Filip Hronek had a rough night Saturday in Dallas, and fellow rookie Dennis Cholowski turned the puck over on one of the goals Monday. The Wings are 13-8-2 with Green in the lineup, 2-11-5 without him. “Our record is reflective,” Blashill said. “When those guys have been out, we haven’t won enough games. Now what has to happen is guys that are here have to play great hockey. “I’ve said that before — the amount that you miss guys depends on the level of which the players you have available play. We’ve got guys that I think have some better hockey in them that have to play great hockey. We have some young players in the lineup, they have to play great. We have some older players in the lineup, they have to play great.” Blashill said the Wings were unlikely to call up anyone from Grand Rapids on Tuesday, and that it would depend on whether the Wings will simply decide to use who is available — Kronwall, Ericsson, Hronek, Cholowski, Nick Jensen and Luke Witkowski for the time being. The Wings don’t go on the road until Jan. 11. Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.