DETROIT -- Red Wings superstar center Pavel Datsyuk didn't make the trip to Buffalo for Sunday's game against the Sabres.
Datsyuk was elbowed in the face by Ottawa's Jared Cowen with 7 minutes, 48 seconds to play in a 4-2 Red Wings loss Saturday night. There was no penalty called on the play.
Datsyuk played three more shifts, but his last was just 12 seconds long. He didn’t play in the final 1:51 of the game.
Datsyuk scored on the power play to make it 2-2 in the second period.
“We left him behind," Red Wings GM Ken Holland. "After the game, he felt -- I don’t know the word -- wasn’t quite right. We’re going through the protocol, see how he feels in the next day or two.
“We’ll wait until tomorrow or the next day to see how he feels. He felt fuzzy, not normal. We’ve all seen these blows to the head. You don’t know.’’
When Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg was asked about the Datsyuk elbow to the face, Zetterberg deadpanned: “The combined eight eyes out there didn’t see it, and if you don’t see it, you can’t call it.
"He just had the puck. Kind of strange no one saw a star player like that.’’
Datsyuk leads the Wings in goals with 11, and his 22 points is second to Zetterberg's 26.
“I’ve seen the video," Holland said. "He got an elbow to the head. I have no other comment."
Holland also said that forward Todd Bertuzzi didn’t make the trip
because of an upper-body injury, but Daniel Alfredsson is ready to play.
