Not again.
That's what must be going through the minds of Red Wings fans with the news that star forward Pavel Datsyuk will miss four weeks with a broken hand.
"He’s got a broken hand or wrist, something like that," Mike Babcock said after the 5-4 victory at Joe Louis Arena. "He’ll be out about four weeks."
"It’s unfortunate. There’s nothing you can do. We’ve got find a way to dig in, just like we did tonight."
Datsyuk was tripped in the first period by Vancouver forward Mikael Samuelsson, a former Red Wing, and fell awkwardly on his right arm. Datsyuk was seen on the bench being attended to by team staff and did not return to the game.
Detroit went through a slew of injuries last season, especially to their forward unit. Johan Franzen, Henrik Zetterberg, Dan Cleary, Tomas Holmstrom and Valtteri Filppula each missed significant time due to injuries during the 2009-10 campaign. Detroit has already lost Mike Modano this season to a severed tendon that will keep him out until just before the playoffs.
Datsyuk has been relatively healthy for his career, missing just two games last season. The lowest amount of games he's ever played in a season is 64 back in 2002-03, his second season in the NHL. Datsyuk had played at least 75 games in each of the past six seasons, excluding the lockout-erased 2004-05 season.
Datsyuk currently leads the team in scoring with 12 goals and 27 assists, totaling 39 points.