The Red Wings suffered an injury on top of an insult when Andrew Copp suffered a broken cheekbone on a high-sticking penalty that wasn’t called by either referee.
Capitals forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel was battling with Detroit defenseman Olli Maatta when his stick came up and struck Copp in the face. Copp went down in a heap. Referees conferred but no penalty call was made. Replays showed it was a clear high-stick.
“He’s going to get an x-ray to get it confirmed,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said.
Lalonde said it was his understanding that if there is an injury, then officials can look at a replay.
“Again it’s hindsight now because he’s got a broken cheekbone, but that stings even more,” Lalonde said. “They said they didn’t see it. What can you do? They never took a look at it. They just said they didn’t see it. Again, there’s no blood.”
Copp is one of the team’s key match-up forwards. The Red Wings have another important game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
“Obviously a blatant high stick,” Lalonde said. “If it hits him in the visor, you can probably move on from it. But the fact he broke his cheekbone, that one stings a little bit. I feel for Copper. Obviously I don’t know what the situation is going forward, but that would be a big loss for us.”
Presuming Copp is out, Lalonde said he would probably ask Joe Veleno to do “a little more.”
“He’s more than capable.” Lalonde said.
Ice Chips
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