SOCHI, Russia -- The Detroit Red Wings dont expect Henrik Zetterberg to play again during the regular season. Zetterberg had back surgery Friday in New York to remove a fragmented disk. "I dont anticipate hell be ready to play in any games of the regular season," Red Wings general manager Ken Holland told The Associated Press on Saturday. "Im hopeful that we can play our way into the playoffs and that hell be back, but thats down the road." The Red Wings and Swedish Olympic hockey team captain played once at the Sochi Games before pulling out because of the injury. Holland is hopeful Zetterbergs back injury does not prematurely end his career. "Im told it has nothing to do with his career," Holland said. "But the surgery is something that needed to be done and hell be as good as new." Detroit, which is aiming to earn a spot in a 23rd consecutive NHL post-season, is competing for one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. The team announced Friday that Zetterbergs status would be evaluated again in eight weeks, a timetable that likely ruled him out for a return before the regular season ends on April 13. The playoffs begin April 16. "Were using the eight-week period, but it could be six or seven or it could be longer," Holland said. "In December, when Z was having some issues and we shut him down, we were aware there was a fragment in there. We were hopeful he could get through the season. "Unfortunately, the fragment lodged itself in a nerve." Zetterberg is expected to stay in New York until he is cleared to return to Detroit in perhaps a few days. "Hes up and about, hes walking," Holland said. "He just has to take it easy for a while." With 24 games left, it will be hard for Red Wings to compete for a spot in the playoffs without Zetterberg. He has 16 goals and 32 assists -- both team highs -- in 45 games this season. He missed most of December because of his back injury. "Its going to be a tight race just like last year to end and we need all the bodies we can get," said Red Wings and Sweden defenceman Jonathan Ericsson, who will face Canada in the Olympic gold-medal game on Sunday in Russia. "Hank has been our best player all year." Kevin Mcreynolds Jersey . The result was a game-winning, power-play goal. Chiasson snapped a third-period tie and lifted the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 victory on Monday night. Eric Lauer Jersey .The Hanwha Eagles said the team was impressed with Morgans contact ability and base-running skills.The 34-year-old debuted with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2007 and hit . https://www.cheappadresjerseys.us/553m-cito-gaston-jersey-padres.html .com) - Eric Fehrs goal 42 seconds into overtime lifted the Washington Capitals to a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Columbus, halting the Blue Jackets seven-game win streak. Benito Santiago Jersey . -- Raiders wide receiver Jacoby Ford made it through a third straight practice without any setbacks and expects to play in Oaklands regular-season finale against San Diego. Dick Williams Jersey .Y. -- Phil Jackson lost out on his preferred coach, but hes working hard on keeping his star player.(SportsNetwork.com) - Lets face it, the Atlanta Falcons are lucky to be playing meaningful football in December. But the schedule doesnt shape up as all that fortunate down the stretch. The 5-7 Falcons are now atop the dismal NFC South division in advance of their trip north to face the powerful Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Monday Night Football. And win or lose in Titletown, Atlanta will remain in control of its own destiny because of a perfect 4-0 record inside the division, along with a looming Week 16 matchup at the Saints, who fell back to 5-8 after Sundays setback to Carolina. If you look ahead, however, you can see things figure to get far stickier for the Falcons starting tonight. While Atlanta has to battle the Packers, who are 6-0 at home this season, New Orleans will face opponents who currently have a 12-26 mark the rest of the way. Conversely, the Falcons face three teams with playoff aspirations (The Pack, Pittsburgh and New Orleans) before finishing off with the now 4-8-1 Panthers. Both the Saints and Atlanta are attempting to avoid joining the 2010 Seattle Seahawks as being the only NFL teams to win a division with a sub-.500 record. The Falcons have won three of four overall, including a big 29-18 win over the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals in Week 13 action at the Georgia Dome. Matt Bryant connected on all five of his field-goal attempts in that one and Matt Ryan finished with a season-high 361 yards on 30-of-41 passing with scoring throws to Julio Jones and Levine Toilolo. Jones led all receivers thanks to 189 yards on 10 receptions, Harry Douglas added 116 yards on nine grabs, and Steven Jackson contributed 101 yards on 18 carries. Arizona signal caller Drew Stanton was picked off twice by the much-maligned Atlanta defense, once by Josh Wilson and another by Dwight Lowery. The Packers, meanwhile, took another step toward what would be a franchise- record fourth consecutive division title when they outlasted the New England Patriots, 26-21, in a game that could have foreshadowed Super Bowl XLIX. MVP candidate Aaron Rodgers threw for 368 yards and two touchdowns and kept two NFL-record streaks alive as he outdueled Tom Brady and the Pats. Rodgers was 24-of-38 and has now thrown 360 consecutive passes with 31 touchdowns since his last interception at home, which was over two calendar years ago. Eddie Lacy rushed 21 times for 98 yards and caught two passes for another 17, stretching his Green Bay running back record to four consecutive games with at least 100 yards from scrimmage. Davante Adams had six receptions for 121 yards and Randall Cobb made seven catches for 85 as the Packers ran their winning streak to four games since their bye week. Weve been great at home, said Rodgers. The fans have been excellent with the noise and weve got a good advantage with it. Weve just got to keep rolling. Green Bay leads its all-time series with Atlanta by a 14-12 margin, including a 22-21 win at Lambeau last season while Rodgers was out with a broken collarbone. On Monday nights the Falcons have been dismal historically, compiling a 10-26 mark. The Packers are also underwater but much better at 28-31-1. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Rodgers has thrown for 20 touchdowns without an interception at home this season. Overall, the All-Pro leads the NFL with a 118.6 passer rating and has thrown for 32 scores against just three INTs, captaining a team that scoress 31.dddddddddddd7 points per game, the best mark in the league. In his four previous career meetings against the Falcons Rodgers has always crossed the 300-yard barrier throwing the ball and has nine TDs against just one INT. Its a big challenge for us this week with Aaron Rodgers, Falcons coach Mike Smith admitted. No doubt, hes playing the best of any quarterback in the NFL right now. Hes got a number of weapons he can get it to. Hes played extremely well at home. I dont think hes thrown an interception at home this season, and I dont even want to talk about how many points theyve scored. The answer to that is 40.9 points while outscoring foes 245 to 106 at Lambeau. I dont know that theres been a quarterback thats had a stretch like hes had in the history of the NFL, Smith continued. Rodgers finished November with 1,233 yards passing with 13 touchdowns and no interceptions for an NFL-best 128.1 passer rating. And more importantly a 4-0 record. No disrespect to any quarterback in the NFL, but right now hes at a level that is much higher than anybody else, Smith said. When you look at his pure statistics, theyre phenomenal. The key to Green Bay at home has been blitzing people out of the starting blocks. The Packers have outscored their opponents by an amazing 79-0 margin in the first quarter of their last five home contests. That number expands to 151-23 at halftime and 14 of those 23 points were scored by the powerful Patriots last week. Foes have been looking up and finding the score 14-0, or in the case of the Pats 13-0, and that has enabled a flawed Packers defense to excel as teams become more one-dimensional. Despite some talent issues on the defensive side Green Bay has allowed just 17.3 ppg in its current four-game winning streak. When you watch the tape, its even more impressive, Smith said. (Rodgers has) got a great grasp of how to attack defenses. Hes extending plays. If he can extend the play and when the play gets off schedule, he can make the throws. Hes been very accurate. His quarterback rating is off the charts. You would think the only way Atlanta can beat the Packers is in a shootout and Ryan isnt too shabby himself, currently second in the NFL with 3,427 passing yards, slightly ahead of Rodgers 3,325. The veteran also has 21 TD passes versus 10 interceptions and a solid 93.7 passer rating. Jones, meanwhile, is one of the best receivers in the game as evidenced last week when he torched the highly-regarded Patrick Peterson time and time again. The Falcons could also get a boost from the potential return of Jones regular running mate, Roddy White, who sat out last week with an ankle problem. Roddy was close to playing (last week), Smith said. He worked with our athletic performance guys late in the week. We felt that it was in the best interest long term for him to not play in the game this past week. We anticipate, with the extra day, that hell be ready to go this week. OVERALL ANALYSIS Rarely is a division leader favored by double digits over another division leader but thats the story here and its hard to imagine a team with so many issues on defense like the Falcons solving Rodgers at Lambeau. We have some big goals, and were getting into December football now with a chance with everything right in front of us, A-Rod said. Expect the Packers to keep rolling here. Sports Network predicted outcome: Packers 34, Falcons 20 ' ' '