Danny Cleary, who has been bothered by a large cyst that has formed behind his left knee, picked up two points in the Wings' 4-3 shoot-out win Thursday in Vancouver (Photo by Getty Images)

EDMONTON, Alberta – It hurts more to walk than it does to skate.

That’s how Danny Cleary categorized a large Baker’s cyst that has formed behind his left knee, causing him tremendous discomfort and pain for more than two months.

Following Thursday’s thrilling 4-3 shoot-out win over Vancouver – a game in which he had a goal and an assist – the Red Wings’ forward said he’ll eventually have to take time this season to have it treated.

“It was a little sore as the game went on, it’s sore right now, but to be honest with you, it’s easier skating than it is walking, if that makes any sense,” Cleary said after Thursday’s game. “I'm going to have to do something about it. I got to get it drained. I got to get it done during the season.”

A Baker’s cyst is the buildup of fluid in the back of the knee joint usually brought on by arthritis or torn cartilage. It can be very painful, and Wednesday his cyst ruptured, landing Cleary in a Vancouver hospital.

Cleary had hoped that with last week’s five-day All-Star break the knee would get better with rest, but that didn’t happen.

“I wanted to get it done Monday but you don't just put a needle in it and drain it, it's not pretty,” said Cleary, who has four points in the last three games. “Got to go in, not surgically, but it's pretty detailed and we're going to put a cortisone shot in and if we would have done that I'd have missed the road trip and I didn't want to miss that length of time that's why I decided not to.”

With no more than two days off between any of the remaining games through the end of the regular-season, there isn’t a good time to have the procedure done that wouldn’t force Cleary to miss at least a game or two.

“I looked for a break (in the schedule), there's not a break,” he said. “I can't go the rest of the year like this.”

Follow Bill Roose on Twitter | @RooseBill