The Detroit Red Wings’ 5-4 win over the New York Islanders on Friday night came with a price when forward Frans Nielsen had to leave the game in the second period due to an upper body injury and did not return.
He will remain out of the lineup on Saturday night when the team takes on the Nashville Predators and is, at this point, considered to be day-to-day.
He has 10 goals and 16 assists this season and was the Red Wings’ lone representative at the 2017 NHL All-Star Game.
Along with the injury to Nielsen, the Red Wings will also be without defenseman Niklas Kronwall due to a lower body injury. Kronwall has missed time on two different occasions this season (including the first month of the season) with Saturday’s game being the 22nd that he will have missed this season. When he has been in the lineup this season he has logged just 18 minutes of ice-time per game, a four-minute drop from a year ago and his lowest average since his rookie season back in 2003-04.
With Nielsen and Kronwall sidelined on Saturday, Tomas Jurco and Brendan Smith will move into the lineup.
Smith was just activated from injured reserve on Friday, a move that sent Alexey Marchenko to the waiver wire.
The Maple Leafs claimed Marchenko on Saturday.
Friday’s win snapped what had been a five-game losing streak for the Red Wings. Even with that win they enter play on Saturday seven points out of a playoff spot. Their run of consecutive playoff appearances, currently sitting at 25, is in danger of coming to an end this season.