The defenseman did not play the third period of a 6-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. He went into the boards hard during the first period and returned for the second period but left with 8:02 remaining.
Jarred Tinordi will replace Ekholm on a pair with Dante Fabbro when the Predators host the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, FS-D+, NHL.TV).
"[Ekholm] is usually on the first or second pair on the penalty kill, and we'll have Tinordi fill that role as he's been a very good penalty killer," Hynes said after the morning skate. "We feel like special teamswise, we can have that covered. And then I think 5-on-5 when you have a player like Ekholm, it's not just one player. We're not expecting Jarred Tinordi to be Mattias Ekholm. We need him to play real solid, [Fabbro] to play solid, [Mark] Borowiecki, [Matt] Benning, all those guys to play really well. And then [Roman] Josi and [Ryan] Ellis to carry the minutes that they carry. It has to be done by committee."
Ekholm was back in the lineup Tuesday after not playing Monday to be with his wife for the birth of their second child. He has three assists, 15 blocked shots and is averaging 20:54 of ice time in 12 games this season, his 10th in the NHL, all with Nashville.
The Predators (5-8-0) have lost five of their past six games (1-5-0), including consecutive losses to the Lightning by a combined score of 10-1. They're also without forward Ryan Johansen, who is week to week with an upper-body injury.
NHL independent correspondent Robby Stanley contributed to this story
