Red Wings' Datsyuk to miss at least two games

Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk will miss at least the next two games with a lower-body injury, coach Mike Babcock said Wednesday.

"Not making the trip," Babcock told the Red Wings website. "He's got a lower-body ache."

Datsyuk has 23 goals and 58 points in 57 games this season. The 36-year-old missed the first five games of the regular season with a shoulder injury, and six of eight games with a sore hip in November.

The Red Wings play at the Florida Panthers on Thursday and the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday before returning home to face the St. Louis Blues on Sunday. Babcock said he wasn't sure if Datsyuk might be able to return then.

Forward Darren Helm could back in the lineup Thursday, the website said. He has missed seven games with a strained oblique muscle sustained Feb. 28 at the Nashville Predators.

"Hopefully I can come back and add a little bit of a spark, some energy, play fast the way I do and keep things moving in the right direction," Helm said.