With the playoffs in sight the Wings will look to err on the side of caution as Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen and Jiri Hudler will all likely be out when the team takes on the Pittsburgh Penguins. This is according to Red Wings general manager Ken Holland Sunday afternoon.

Pavel Datsyuk is still dealing with a lower body injury, Franzen has a groin injury and Jiri Hudler was fighting the flu but is now listed as having an upper body injury.

“We’re anticipating Hudler, Franzen and Datsyuk all out tomorrow,” Holland said. “They’re all day to day. We’ll see as we go.”

Defenseman Ruslan Salei will make his way back into the lineup after missing that past few games while spending time with his wife who was giving birth to the couples third child.

If Franzen, Datsyuk and Hudler all can’t go the Wings will dress 11 forwards and 7 defensemen. Recalling a player from Grand Rapids would also be out of the question since their is not salary cap space to work with.

The only way the Wings could recall a player from Grand Rapids is if Osgood were to dress so they could send Joey MacDonald back to the Griffins or if they put an injured player on the long term injured reserve. Right now Osgood is scheduled to come back late next week at the earliest and the injuries to Datsyuk, Franzen and Hudler are all day to day injuries.

Source: Mlive.com

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