NHL Injuries: Rangers, Red Wings, Flyers, Predators, Wild and the Coyotes
  • Katie Strang: Rangers Chris Kreider suffered his hand injury during the Blue Jackets game. He played two games after that with minimal pain. Pat Leonard: Coach Alain Vigneault said they are still determining what the next step is, if he’ll need surgery or not.
  • Andrew Gross: Rangers John Moore skated yesterday for the first time since suffering his concussion last Friday from a  Blake Comeau hit. Moore said he’s feels that he is improving every day. There is no timetable yet.
  • Bill Roose: Red Wings Justin Abdelkader hopes to return to the lineup no later than next Wednesday.
  • Helene St. James: There is no set time for Pavel Datsyuk’s return, but Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said that it “looks like he can play.”
  • Ansar Khan: Red Wings Henrik Zetterberg said that he plans on returning for the playoffs. He is doing some off-ice workouts, but there is no timetable on when he will start skating.
  • Dave Isaac: Flyers GM Paul Holmgren on the possibility of Steve Downie having concussion: “He’s got a lot of things going on. That might be one, but we haven’t diagnosed it as such.”
  • Nick Cole: Predators Seth Jones, Paul Gaustad and Patrick Eaves are out tonight.
  • Minnesota Wild: Wild GM Chuck Fletcher said that Niklas Backstrom had successful core muscle surgery on Tuesday and is out the rest of the year. Jason Zucker had surgery on Tuesday to repair a tendon in his left quadriceps and is out for the rest of the year.
  • Craig Morgan of Fox Sports Arizona: It was reported on Tuesday that Coyotes Mike Smith has a leg strain and would be out two weeks. GM Don Maloney and coach Dave Tippett said that details and a timeline won’t be known until their doctors see Smith.

    “Until doctor (Gary) Waslewski and our medical staff get their hands on Mike, we won’t have a clear idea,” Maloney said Wednesday. “The encouraging thing is he is feeling much better today than he was yesterday. It’s all trending positively.”

    Lauri Korpikoski could return tonight.