Kronwall, Smith out for remainder of Red Wings' road trip
Niklas Kronwall's and Brendan Smith's road trips are over.
The Detroit Red Wings will be without the two defenders for the next little while, after the pair were injured Wednesday.
Blashill said Kronwall (lower body) and Smith not playing rest of trip and then will be further evaluated. #RedWings
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) January 5, 2017
Kronwall's been diagnosed with a lower-body injury, while Smith re-aggravated a right knee injury.
#RedWings Smith reggravated his right knee injury. Must wait until swelling goes down to determine extent, but doesn't feel as bad as before
— Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) January 5, 2017
Detroit's on a seven-game trip, with games Thursday against Los Angeles, San Jose on Saturday, Chicago on Tuesday, and Dallas next Thursday. That means the earliest the two will return is Jan. 14 against Pittsburgh.
Kronwall has three assists in 25 games, as injuries have plagued his season. He's averaging slightly under 19 minutes per game.
Smith has two goals and three assists and was averaging 18:02 in ice time.
These are big losses for Detroit, which has lost three of four and faces tough competition on the rest of their trip.
Marchenko and Sproul in for Smith and Kronwall
— Ted Kulfan (@tkulfan) January 5, 2017