Darren Helm

DETROIT – As Darren Helm returned to his locker in the Red Wings’ dressing room inside Joe Louis Arena Monday, he had the look of a man who had received some bad news.

With the left side of his upper lip still swollen – thanks to a wayward puck in warm-ups last Monday – the Wings’ center had just learned that his sore groin would hold him back from joining his teammates on their trip to Dallas.

“I was hoping to be back right away, looks like they want me to stay off a little longer,” said Helm, of the Wings’ training staff.

Helm suffered the injury late last week as the team prepared to face the Blackhawks in Chicago. He’s missed the last two games, and hasn’t been on the ice since last Thursday.

“It feels a lot better, hopefully get on the ice when (they) get back,” Helm said. “Stick around here, get some treatment, get a couple of workouts in, hopefully be ready for the weekend, for the fathers' trip.”

With Helm and power forward Tomas Holmstrom out of the lineup, rookie forwards Joakim Andersson and Gustav Nyquist made the trip to Dallas for tonight’s game against the Stars.

Tuesday’s game will be the fourth straight missed by Holmstrom, who suffered a strained groin midway through last Monday’s 4-1 win at Nashville.

With the fathers’ trip coming up this weekend with nostalgic road matchups against Original Six rivals Toronto and Chicago, Helm is hoping to be back in the lineup.

“The fathers' trip is something I really want to be ready for,” he said

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