Alexei Kovalev will miss the next couple of games as he will be heading to Russia on Friday because of the death of his wife's mother.
Kovalev has been on a hot streak of late, racking up four points in the last four games. In 18 games this season, the Togliatti, Russia, native has four goals and six assists with a minus- 5 rating.
Ryan Shannon draws in and will take Kovalev's spot on the second line of Mike Fisher and Nick Foligno.