Earlier this morning Datsyuk underwent arthroscopic surgery to clean out his knee. Coach Mike Babcock said in his press release that it was something they wanted to get done before the playoffs and they felt that now was the best time. With their lead in the standings and the consecutive home win-streak record broken, they figured they could afford to lose a few games now.
I’m not overly concerned with his long-term health, and he is only expected to be out two weeks. At the end of the day, the Wings have been cruising and they are all but guaranteed a playoff spot, so if they lose a few games without Pavs in the next couple of weeks, don’t panic. Datsyuk is currently 9th in the league in scoring and leads the Wings in scoring through 60 games.