The Red Wings hope they won't look back on Thursday's 2-0 win over Columbus as a costly victory, as a pair of important players were lost to injuries.

Center Pavel Datsyuk and defenseman Brian Rafalski were hurt during the third period. Datsyuk has an undisclosed lower-body injury after being hit by Rick Nash along the boards. Rafalski hurt his right knee when Antoine Vermette landed on him in the corner.

Both players said they would know more about the severity of their injuries Friday. They are not likely to play in Saturday's game at Nashville.

Datsyuk said he's not sure if he'll need an MRI or X-rays. Rafalski said he won't need any tests.

Rafalski said the brace he wears on his knee saved it or "it would have been a lot worse."

"See if the swelling goes down tomorrow," Rafalski said. "Can't let it get stiffened up. At first the pain was (bad), and then it started going away after a few seconds."

RED WINGS 2, BLUE JACKETS 0: Third-string goaltender Joey MacDonald, filling in for injured backup Chris Osgood and giving starter Jimmy Howard a breather, played his best game as a Wing, making 14 saves in the first period and finishing with 37. The Wings jumped on Columbus early, getting goals in the first period from Drew Miller (33 seconds) and Valtteri Filppula (11:23 on the power play) and made it stand. They killed six Columbus power plays, including four in the third period.

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