GLENDALE, Ariz. -- When Dan Cleary appeared to hurt his knee after crashing into the boards during Friday's practice and had to be helped off the ice, the Detroit Red Wings wondered if they were experiencing a repeat of their 2009-10 injury-plagued season.

They already are missing impact players Johan Franzen (head) and Brian Rafalski (knee) and supporting players Jonathan Ericsson (back), Kris Draper (groin) and Justin Abdelkader (ribs).

"We can't afford any more injuries,'' Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said.

Luckily, Cleary was only shaken up, his knee sore and swollen after he tripped over teammate Niklas Kronwall's stick. He will be in the lineup Saturday night against the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena.

Injuries, however, will force the Red Wings to dress 17 skaters, one fewer than a full complement, unless Abdelkader is cleared, which general manager Ken Holland said is unlikely.

The club does not have the salary-cap space to recall anybody from the Grand Rapids Griffins, unless they place someone on long-term injured reserve (out a minimum of 10 games and 24 days), which Holland said is not necessary.

The club was awaiting results of Franzen's MRI on Friday, a day after he took an elbow to the head from Dallas defenseman Mark Fistric (the Red Wings are upset Fistric wasn't suspended).

In the meantime, Detroit will play with 11 forwards, which Babcock said is not an issue whatsoever.

"More ice time for the fellas,'' Babcock said.

Drew Miller will replace Franzen on the second line with Valtteri Filppula and Todd Bertuzzi. The unit has been the team's most effective by far through four games.

Miller, a grinder who had career highs in goals (10) and points (19) last season, has experience filling in on a scoring line.

"My role is to get in there and forecheck, bring energy,'' Miller said.

"When you're making decisions about who's going to be on your fourth line, you got to have some versatile people who can fill in and help out,'' Babcock said. "We didn't expect Millsie to be playing in that spot four games in, but that's life.''

After impressive wins against Anaheim (4-0) and Chicago (3-2), the Red Wings have not been sharp defensively in losses to Colorado (5-4 in a shootout) and Dallas (4-1). But Babcock said breakdowns were not the issue against the Stars, noting his club allowed only 15 shots and few chances.

He is more bothered that his team had four power-play opportunities through two periods and didn't threaten at all.

"I want to see more motion, I don't want to see people standing still,'' Babcock said. "We scored a power-play goal (in the third, by Kronwall), but the game was over. When the game's on the line, you got to do more.

"We have good players. Our power play has to do better than it's done thus far.''

The Red Wings are 3-of-18 (18.8 percent) on the power play. It doesn't help that Rafalski has missed the past two games and will be out another three weeks. And now Franzen is out, and top-line players Henrik Zetterberg (no goals, two assists) and Tomas Holmstrom (no points) also are off to slow starts.

Holmstrom, the net-front specialist, watched one second-period power play from the bench Thursday.

"I think we're lacking some motion,'' captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. "Too stationary. When that happens, it's easy for them to defend against us. They're doing a good job blocking shots.''

It's early, but goaltender Chris Osgood noted the sense of urgency already is increasing.

"You don't want to see what happened last year when we had a lot of guys (injured),'' Osgood said. "We need guys to step in and play real solid.

"It's a big game for us in Phoenix. We need a win to turn the table. We don't want to fall into a rut this early in the season.''

The Red Wings will turn to Jimmy Howard on Saturday, hoping he delivers like he did in the first round of the playoffs against Phoenix last season, winning three road games, including Game 7.

The Coyotes are well-rested after splitting a pair of games against Boston in the Czech Republic last weekend.

"You learn a lot, especially in the playoffs,'' Howard said. "You can be here and watch as a Black Ace (playoff reserve), but it's something totally different when you're out there and the spotlight's on the team and you got to come up with big plays.''