ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Blues defenseman Chris Pronger is out for the remainder of the postseason after tearing a ligament in his right knee.

Pronger: No malice in hit

Chris Pronger said Friday he did not believe Detroit's Steve Yzerman intended to hurt him when the two collided in Thursday's 4-3 Red Wings win. "He was going to get the puck and I stepped up to hit him," said Pronger, who attended a Blues workout Friday. "At the last second, he saw me and he dove into me. "I don't think he jumped into my knee, but he ducked intentionally, he was trying to get out of the way," Pronger said. Yzerman said after the game he saw the hit coming. "I dumped the puck in and was just spinning out the way," Detroit's captain said, "trying to get out of the way and falling down. Unfortunately for Chris, he was coming at me and ran right into my rear end." Blues coach Joel Quenneville didn't believe Yzerman intended to hurt Pronger. "No, I think it was a natural instinct," he said of the duck. "He did what he had to do and it was a freak thing." Pronger knew immediately the injury was serious. "I figured when I tried to stand up it was pretty weak and wasn't really holding up well under pressure," he said. "I don't know if I heard anything when I got hit but you can just tell when something is wrong with your body." -- The Associated Press

Pronger was injured on an awkward check midway through the first period during a confrontation with Steve Yzerman in the Blues' 4-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit won the game 4-3 and took a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.

Pronger, the Blues' captain, limped to the locker room instead of the penalty box after being whistled for cross-checking Yzerman at 10:20. Seconds earlier, Pronger went over the top of Yzerman on a check, tumbling to the ice and landing on a knee.

"He stepped up at the blue line and tried to hit me and I saw him coming," Yzerman said. "I dumped the puck in and was just spinning out the way, trying to get out of the way and falling down.

"Unfortunately for Chris, he was coming at me and ran right into my rear end."

Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman said he thought Pronger was taking a run at Yzerman when he was hurt.

"He's pretty lucky he didn't get a slashing penalty, too, but I guess they're not going to call everything," Bowman said.

The injury leaves a gaping hole on the Blues' back line. Pronger was averaging more than 30 minutes a game and has one goal and six assists in the playoffs.

The Blues finished the game with five defensemen.

"He's out there a lot," Quenneville said. "Our defensemen are obviously going to get more quality minutes."

The Red Wings realize how important Pronger is to the Blues.

"He's a guy you don't really fill a hole for," said forward Kirk Maltby, who hadn't learned the extent of Pronger's injury. "But at the same time, it's nice to have him out of the lineup."

With Pronger out, the Blues likely will insert veteran Marc Bergevin, a healthy scratch the last two games, for Game 5 Saturday in Detroit.