Pavel Datsyuk is the kind of guy you think never gets hurt, but he is human after all.
Ansar Khan of MLive.com reports that Datsyuk will miss tonight’s game with an injury. Red Wings GM Ken Holland tells Khan that the injury isn’t serious and that Datsyuk, like the rest of us, is day-to-day.
Missing out on tonight’s game against the Islanders means that Datsyuk won’t get a chance to face former Russian teammate and almost Red Wings goalie Evgeni Nabokov. Datsyuk is Detroit’s leading scorer with 43 points and the guy that makes their offense go. Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports that Detroit could go with seven defensemen tonight in lieu of Datsyuk’s absence.
If there’s an upside for Detroit it’s that Henrik Zetterberg has been playing stronger of late and has become an assist machine in his own right. No one is going to feel bad for Detroit for missing out on one of their many superstars, especially for a game, but going without Datsyuk means missing out on his slick moves and dangles and for that everyone should be sad.