The Detroit Red Wings will be without center Pavel Datsyuk for the next three weeks, general manager Ken Holland said Wednesday.
"Right now, there's no surgery for Pavel," Holland said, according to the team's official Twitter feed. "We're gonna shut him down and see where we're at in three weeks."
Datsyuk has been slowed all season by a lower-body injury that sidelined him for more than a month prior to the Sochi Olympics and was held out of Tuesday's game due to knee inflammation.
"Can't play; issue with my knee," Datsyuk said Tuesday.
Datsyuk played for Team Russia during the Games and played in the Red Wings' first two games following the Olympic break.
But the veteran sat out the team's 4-3 loss to the Devils on Tuesday and now will be held out much longer.
While some Red Wings fans might wish Datsyuk had taken the Olympic break off, Holland, a member of Team Canada's management staff, said he understood the desire to represent your country.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Holland said of Datsyuk leading into the Games. "In his hockey lifetime, the Olympics will never be in Russia [again]. He's the captain. He's probably been preparing for this two-week tournament five, six years ago when it was announced that it was coming to Russia."
Datsyuk has 33 points (15 goals) and has played in 39 of 61 games as Detroit sits in ninth place in the Eastern Conference.
The Wings also will be without center Darren Helm (upper-body injury) Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche and recalled Cory Emmerton from the AHL, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Winger Daniel Alfredsson is expected to play after losing several teeth in Tuesday's game.
"He's missing lots of teeth, but he was here," coach Mike Babcock told the Free Press. "So I think he'll go."
