SAN JOSE, Calif. – Playing without prime playoff performer Johan Franzen due to an ankle injury was tough enough.

Then the Detroit Red Wings lost Todd Bertuzzi midway through the first period Thursday in Game 7 against the San Jose Sharks. Then they lost Danny Cleary with 5:48 remaining in the second period.

Each suffered a concussion.

That's a lot of size and a lot of skill to be missing from your lineup. Still, the Red Wings battled hard with just 10 forwards and came up just short, losing 3-2 in the deciding game of the Western Conference semifinals at HP Pavilion.

“We'd like to have had some minutes out of those guys, but that's hockey,'' coach Mike Babcock said. “You miss those guys, but it was an opportunity for other guys to step up. I thought our guys did a real good job filling in and playing hard and competing. I thought we were on the puck, so I'm proud of our group. Our group worked real hard.''

Bertuzzi was injured while delivering a hit on Dany Heatley as their helmets collided. Cleary was hurt in collision with teammate Jiri Hudler, whose shoulder smacked Cleary's head.

“Those are two big guys, good at hanging onto the puck and good at grinding it down low,'' captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. “They're missed, especially when you have to juggle the lines and different combinations that you haven't seen a whole lot of. It made it harder on us, but we did battle hard to try to come back in this game.''

Bertuzzi and Cleary both appeared woozy and needed some assistance walking out of the dressing room after the game. They would not have been ready for the start of the next round had Detroit advanced.

“It's tough to replace anybody in the playoffs, especially those two,'' Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg said. “They play a lot of minutes, they play a lot of tough minutes, but I think the guys that came in and played instead of them played well.''

Said goaltender Jimmy Howard: “There's no quit in our dressing room. That's what I'm really proud of. Those are huge blows, but we pulled even closer together, we kept going.''

Franzen missed his second game in a row. He had been hampered by the injury since Game 2 of the first round against Phoenix and had no points in five games against the Sharks.

Power play comes up short

The Red Wings went 0 for 4 on the power play in Game 7. They failed to get a shot during two opportunities in the first period and couldn't convert on two chances in the third, trailing by one goal each time.

“Late in the game we had some better power plays, had some chances but early on we didn't execute at all,'' Lidstrom said.

Said Zetterberg: “You have to do that in the playoffs, especially in close games like this. We should be able to create more than we did.''

The Red Wings went 0 for 12 on the power play in the final three games. They were 4 for 28 in the series (14.3) percent. San Jose went 5 for 28.

“It didn't get it done for us,'' Babcock said. “In the end they scored one more power play goal in the series. Anyway you look at it they won the special teams battle. We had some opportunities when the game was on the line, but not good enough.''

Odds & ends

--Kris Draper, a healthy scratch in Game 6, returned to action, replacing Mike Modano, who made his series debut on Tuesday.

Modano said before the playoffs that he likely will retire after the season.

--Ryane Clowe, San Jose's leading scorer in the playoffs with 13 points and a physical and emotional catalyst, returned to the lineup after missing one game with an upper-body injury.

--Babcock, on the series: “You're disappointed tonight for sure. You thought in your heart and your mind you were winning, for sure. I thought the team that came out of this series was going to have a real shot at winning (against Vancouver).''