Nicklas Lidstrom took to the ice on his own for the first time on Thursday since heading to the sidelines with deep ankle bone bruise. "I tried to skate today but I can still feel the pain," he said. "It's still day by day, and hopefully it'll get better. Probably on that West Coast trip (he expects to play), if it feels better, if there's no pain when I can put the skate on." Lidstrom has sat out the last four games with the ailment and he has already been ruled out for Friday's home contest versus Los Angeles.