Late in the third period of the Detroit Red Wings’ 6-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night, defenseman Mike Green was on the receiving end of a pretty big hit from Ducks forward Ryan Kesler that forced him to exit the game with less than a minute to play in regulation.
After the game Green insisted that he was OK, but on Sunday morning Red Wings general manager Ken Holland told Mlive.com’s Brendan Savage that Green is probably considered day-to-day at this point, and that the team will know more about his status on Monday.
The Red Wings have a back-to-back situation on Monday and Tuesday of this week with games at Tampa Bay and Carolina.
Even if it’s nothing long-term losing Green for any length of time would be a problem for a Red Wings team that is already without defensemen Alexey Marchenko and Brendan Smith at the moment.
Green has taken on an increased role on the Red Wings blue line this season and is averaging more than 24 minutes of ice time per game, nearly five minutes more than what he played a year ago in his first year with the team after signing a three-year, $18 million contract in free agency.
That increased ice time has also resulted in an increase in his point production. It is not quite to the same level it was during his peak years in Washington when he was the best offensive defenseman in the league, but his 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) are currently second on the team in scoring and have him in the top-15 among all defensemen across the league. His current scoring rate would put him on a pace for 46 points over 82 games. He has not recorded more than 45 points in a season (mostly due to injuries significantly limiting his availability in recent years) since the 2009-10 season.