Detroit Red Wings leading scorer Pavel Datsyuk is expected to miss the next two weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery on Tuesday, the National Hockey League (NHL) team said.
"Everything is real good," said Babcock. "He had a fragment in his knee, an old thing we wanted to clear up prior to playoff time."
Datsyuk, who was voted the most difficult forward to play against in a recent CBC Hockey Night in Canada poll, leads the Red Wings with 59 points this season.
The Western Conference-leading Red Wings have a road game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday before trying to extend their NHL-record 23-game home win streak Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Frank Pingue)
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.