Red Wings D Lebda suffers concussion

Mar 24, 2007 - 6:53 PM DETROIT (Ticker) -- One day after clinching a playoff berth, the Detroit Red Wings lost a key member of their defense corps.

Brett Lebda was injured early in the first period of Detroit's home game against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday and was escorted from the ice on a stretcher.

Just over 6 1/2 minutes into the opening session, Lebda was hit from behind in the right corner of the Red Wings' zone by Blues left wing Ville Nieminen and crumpled to the ice. After being attended to by Detroit's medical staff, Lebda was placed in a neck brace and taken to Detroit Medical Center, where it was determined the blue-liner suffered a concussion.

Nieminen was given a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct.

A 25-year-old native of Illinois, Lebda has recorded four goals, 11 assists and 57 penalty minutes in 70 games this season. He made his NHL debut last campaign, registering three tallies and 12 points in 46 contests.

Despite being idle on Friday, the Red Wings secured a postseason berth by virtue of the Colorado Avalanche's shootout loss to the Edmonton Oilers. Detroit (45-19-10) entered Saturday's contest fourth in the Western Conference, just one point behind first-place Nashville (47-21-7).