DETROIT (AP) - The Detroit Red Wings may have to make the playoffs and advance to get defenseman Jonathan Ericsson back.
Ericsson had surgery on the middle finger of his left hand Wednesday and is expected to be out 4-6 weeks. He broke his finger and partially tore a tendon in it during Tuesday night’s win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Red Wings called up defenseman Adam Almquist from the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Losing Ericsson is a setback for the banged-up team, which is without many forwards, including Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg.
The Red Wings will probably have to earn one of two wild-card bids in the Eastern Conference to extend their postseason streak to 23 seasons. They were fourth in the wild-card standings entering play Wednesday.
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