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Alfredsson (back) out for Wings tonight, Andersson to face B’s

Detroit Red Wings v New York Islanders

skates against the New York Islanders at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on November 29, 2013 in Uniondale, New York. The Red Wings defeated the Islanders 5-0.

Bruce Bennett

The Red Wings’ oldest player will sit tonight as their opening-round series with Boston shifts to the Joe.

Daniel Alfredsson will miss Game 3 with a back injury, the Wings have announced, and he’ll be replaced by Joakim Andersson on a line with Darren Helm and Tomas Jurco.

Alfredsson, 41, has struggled at times during this series, playing just 12:14 in the Game 1 victory over the B’s and 17:03 in Sunday’s 4-1 loss. The veteran Swede has no goals, no assists, no points and no shots on goal thus far, suggesting he’s far from 100 percent.

Andersson, 25, could provide a spark for a Detroit team that looked flat in the aforementioned Game 2 defeat. He was a solid contributor last postseason -- five points in 14 games, playing over 13 minutes a night -- and is coming off a regular season in which he posted a career-high eight goals and 17 points.

The rest of head coach Mike Babcock’s lines remain unchanged aside from Andersson’s insertion. Pavel Datsyuk will still man the top unit between Johan Franzen and Justin Abdelkader, while Riley Sheahan is the center on the No. 2 line between Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist. Drew Miller, David Legwand and Luke Glendening are on the fourth line.