Detroit Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde told the media after Tuesday’s game against the Washington Capitals that the team doctor told him that center Andrew Copp broke his cheek bone during the game.
Copp, 29, suffered the injury after a late high stick to the face from Nicolas Aube-Kubel that went uncalled during the game. He left the game shortly after, not playing the remaining 5+ minutes of the game. The Red Wings’ doctor told Lalonde that Copp suffered a broken cheek bone, although there will be further imaging to confirm the injury.
Copp left the game with a hit taken and seven of eight faceoffs won in 13:48 of ice time as the Wings would go on to lose the game 2-1.
Copp has taken a step back after having a career year in his first season in Detroit, although it’s still on par with some of his better seasons with 13 goals and 20 assists for 33 points in 77 games. If this injury means he’ll miss the rest of the regular season, he’ll tie his second-highest goal total in a single season, and fourth-highest assist and point totals.
Copp was a fourth-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets in the 2013 NHL Draft, and after making his NHL debut late in the 2014-15 season, he spent parts of seven full seasons in Winnipeg before he was traded to the New York Rangers in 2022 as a trade deadline acquisition. He then went on to sign a five-year contract with a $5.625 million cap hit with the Red Wings in the 2022 offseason, a deal that he is currently in the second year of.
After all of Tuesday’s Eastern Conference action, the Red Wings sit in fifth in the Atlantic Division with a 38-32-8 record, which is a point behind the Capitals for the final wild card spot in the Conference. With that loss to the Caps proving to be significant to their race to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2016, Detroit will look to bounce back in another important game when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday at 7 p.m. EST.
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