A season ago he slipped under the radar a bit, but Niklas Kronwall is returning to his previous game-changing form. That means scoring crucial points, yet it also often means delivering brutal hits. The Swedish defenseman “Kronwall’d” Dany Heatley and Ryane Clowe already in this series and it looks like Clowe is showing some ill effects.
CSN’s Brodie Brazil reports that Clowe won’t play in Game 6 and didn’t make the trip to Detroit. It’s unclear what type of injury Clowe is dealing with or how much time he will miss, but the odds are high that that hit might be the culprit for his missed time. Clowe wasn’t shy about discussing his distaste for Kronwall going into Game 5, but it seems like Kronwall got the last laugh.
No doubt about it, losing Clowe would be a big blow. He registered a career-high 24 goals and 62 points this season but has been even better in the playoffs, scoring 13 points in 11 games.
Speaking of big blows, here’s video footage of that destructive check by Kronwall.