Eaves injured in Wings’ win

UPDATE: The Red Wings have said that Patrick Eaves suffered a fractured jaw, and that he will be undergoing surgery Monday evening. He is expected to miss six to eight weeks.

By Michael Caples –

DETROIT – Coach Mike Babcock said he had no idea how a puck could get up that high after a slap shot.

With two minutes left in the third period, Nashville defenseman Roman Josi took a shot from the blue line. Detroit forward Patrick Eaves braced to block the puck, and somehow, it elevated, and hit Eaves in the side of the head.

Eaves dropped to the ice, and after receiving attention from the training staff, was able to sit up and help himself onto a stretcher.

The Wings had no official update on Eaves’ status after the game.

“Really scary play – he was too close to the guy to get in the ear,” Babcock said. “I don’t know how the puck elevated. Guy’s not trying to shoot it that high from that close. I don’t know what happened.”

Captain Nick Lidstrom, who stayed next to Eaves while he was being helped by the training staff, said that Eaves was either cut around his ear, or within his ear, and that he was in a lot of pain.

The injury at the end of the game put a damper on the Wings’ fifth win in as many games.

Valtteri Filppula posted two goals and Jimmy Howard recorded 18 saves, as Detroit posted a 4-1 win over Nashville.

“I thought we played real well,” Lidstrom said. “I thought we played well offensively, and I thought we played well without the puck in our own zone. I thought Jimmy came up big for us again.”

The win gives Detroit 29 points on the season, which puts them at the top of the Western Conference standings (for the time being, at least). The Wings have won five straight games – the second time Detroit has posted five in a row this season.

Henrik Zetterberg and Dan Cleary also scored for the Wings, and Jiri Hudler had two assists.

Howard picked up his 13^th win of the season, letting only a tap-in goal by Jack Hillen keep him from another shutout. The Wings held the Predators scoreless on three power-play opportunities.

The Wings took control of the contest with a dominating first two periods. Detroit out-shot the visitors 25-8 in the first 40 minutes of play – 14-3 in the first, and 11-5 in the second.

Filppula recorded his sixth goal of the season at 13:23 of the first period to open the scoring. Linemate Todd Bertuzzi just missed on a chance right at the top of the crease, and Filppula fired in the rebound.

Zetterberg gave the Wings a two-goal lead 1:31 into the second. The Wings’ assistant captain took a pass from Jiri Hudler behind the goal, skated above the goal line, and then turned and snapped a shot over goaltender Pekka Rinne.

Filppula’s second goal of the night six minutes later gave Detroit a commanding three-goal lead. Jiri Hudler tipped a shot from Jakub Kindl, and the puck hit Filppula’s stick for a second redirection in front of the Nashville goal.

The Wings increased their total to four when Darren Helm chased down a Nashville breakout, stole the puck, then set up Dan Cleary for a one-timer to Rinne’s left at the 4:03 mark of the third.