Robby Fabbri couldn't believe it. After taking all the precautions against COVID-19, after avoiding the virus for 10 months, now he had tested positive?
"Two games into the season and I've gone this long without getting it and being careful," Fabbri said Tuesday after his first practice with the Red Wings in two weeks. "There's nothing you can do about it."
He's able to laugh about it now, in a rueful sort of way. But Fabbri wasn't happy when he found out the morning of Detroit's game against Columbus on Jan. 18 that he had contracted COVID-19. That he'd have to leave the team and self-isolate for 10 days. And he admits his ensuing bout with the virus was "no joke."
"Day two to five, I got every symptom you hear about," he said. "So early on, it wasn't too fun. A lot of sleeping and lying down, and then after day five I slowly started to get some energy back and the symptoms were gone. From then on, I was just getting back to a regular day and then getting back on the ice."
There's no such thing as a regular day in self-isolation. As his energy returned, Fabbri had nowhere to go. That was "the worst part," he said, "just being locked in my bedroom." When he wasn't watching TV shows and sports, he found himself "pacing" the room.
So you can imagine Fabbri's relief when he returned to the ice last Friday, along with the other members of the team in COVID-19 protocol. And you can imagine his excitement to return to the Red Wings' lineup Wednesday night against the Lighting, especially after the team lost seven of eight games in his absence.
"Just happy to get back and help the guys out and get back to where we were at the start of the year," he said.
For Fabbri, that was 1-1. He scored the game-winner in Detroit's first victory of the season, 4-2 over the Hurricanes. The Wings haven't scored more than three goals in a game since. That's what happens when a team already lacking scoring punch goes freezing cold on the power play. Detroit has one goal in its last 17 opportunities on the man advantage and is converting at just 11.8 percent on the season.
Fabbri can help. He scored six of his 14 goals for the Wings last season on the power play, which is double the number of power play goals they've scored as a team through 10 games. He's poised to rejoin the second unit on Wednesday.
"I'm comfortable on the power play, always have been," he said. "Just looking to bring that patience and playmaking that we can use out there."
With Tyler Bertuzzi sidelined for at least the next two games and possibly the duration of Detroit's six-game road trip, the Wings need a boost from Fabbri now more than ever. The opportunity is his, playing on the top line with Dylan Larkin and Bobby Ryan.
"We have to make sure we temper our expectations of the guys coming back," Jeff Blashill said Tuesday. "We can't ask them to shoulder too much of the load because of the fact they've been off for a while."
True, but Fabbri would say he's been off long enough.
