NHL Tuesday: Rangers stun Devils

Perhaps the most encouraging thing about the Detroit Red Wings 3-1-1 record heading into their game in Montreal on Tuesday night was the fact they had done it without the services of their best player, Pavel Datsyuk.

He made his 2014-15 season debut on Tuesday and it turned out to be quite an eventful -- and controversial -- evening.

The only bad news for the Flames is Gaudreau ended up crashing into the boards and headed to the locker room.

GIF via @PeteBlackburn

It did not happen against their arch-rivals on Tuesday.

Hickey, who had lost his stick on the play, was attempting to disrupt Santorelli as he carried the puck through the neutral zone and fell to the ice. During his fall, Santorelli’s right skate blade caught Hickey near the mouth. The Islanders’ defenseman raced off the ice and was immediately ushered off to the locker room.

He did not return to the game.

But he’s also provided a rather unexpected bonus for the Islanders and suddenly became a point-producing machine on the power play.

It only took him six games to top that total with the Islanders.