Bone Bruise on Lidstrom's Ankle

The Detroit Red Wings are expecting to be without their most steady player in their line-up, captain Nicklas Lidstrom, thanks to a deep bone bruise in his ankle. Lidstrom has already missed one game with the injury and will not be playing in either Friday night's game against the Wild or Sunday afternoon's contest against the Blackhawks. There is also a fear that he will be missing more time after that, but that has yet to be officially confirmed by the team.

Going into Friday night's action, Lidstrom ranks 20th among all defensemen in scoring with 31 points (10 goals and 21 assists) in 62 games with the Red Wings, scoring at an even half a point-per-game, which isn't the electric pace he is normally known for.  Lidstrom currently ranks 194th in pool scoring overall, his lowest rank in quite some time.  There has been a serious drop off in his offensive production, but with the Wings near the top of the Western Conference, the only people really complaining are his poolies.

Two seasons ago, Lidstrom finished 131st overall with 49 points in all 82 games, which is above the pace he is at right now, not to mention having to miss a few games now this season.

A tough break for Niesa S., who now sits 17 points out of the money and will miss some key games from her best defenseman this season.  The likelihood of Niesa making it to the money will take a hit with this injury news, but her forwards have been rolling along, so they might be able to make up for the loss over the weekend.

Niesa's defense has been hovering around the average all season long and they currently sit 1 point better than the pool average, which is 90 points, so missing out on Lidstrom for a couple of games may drop her team below the average mark.