Brendan Smith 2-28-15

Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith opened the scoring against Pekka Rinne and Nashville on Saturday.

(The Associated Press)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith has taken some abuse the past couple of games, and he's not brushing it aside as part of the game.

Smith hurt his hand and hit his head on the ice after being slew-footed by San Jose's Logan Couture on Thursday. Then he was butt-ended in the face by Nashville's James Neal on Saturday.

The play with Neal happened at 9:42 of the third period in the Red Wings' 4-3 win. Neal was penalized for high-sticking.

"I haven't seen it, but I felt he knew I was there and that was kind of intentional," Smith said.

Speaking after the game, Smith was still upset about Couture taking his feet out from under him in front of the Detroit net two days before.

"I personally didn't like the play," Smith said. "I can't defend myself. That's the biggest thing. When somebody can't defend themselves, that's when there's an issue. Obviously, it was intentional."

The NHL fined Couture $5,000 for the incident, which nearly prevented Smith from playing Saturday. He was 50-50 before deciding after the pregame warm-ups that he could go.

"I couldn't put any hand down to protect myself and I did land pretty hard on my head and that's why I had to go off and get an assessment," Smith said. "That makes me upset because there's a chance I could be out for a long time.

"You've seen it with Mule (Johan Franzen, out with a concussion). He hasn't been back since then (Jan. 6). Those head injuries are dangerous. At least the league saw it as it was and we'll keep going. Everybody is trying to battle for space. Things like that we got to crack down on."

It was an eventful game for Smith. He scored goal, took three penalties (one for holding, two for interference) and drew three penalties, including a slash from Neal in the final minute.

"I think it was a pretty chippy game in general," Smith said. "I thought maybe two of mine (penalties) might have been a little questionable. I drew a couple, too. That's just how the game goes."

As for his goal, on which he joined the rush, Smith said, "I didn't do much, I just shot it; you have to give credit to Weisser (Stephen Weiss), DK (Danny DeKeyser) made a great play on the wall. Andy (Joakim Andersson) finished with a great pass. I was fortunate to put it over (Pekka) Rinne's shoulder. Those feel great when you can score good goals like that."

Said DeKeyser: "That's when he's at his best, when he's out there and playing hard and making simple plays. Props to him. He had a great game."

No update on Helm until Monday

General manager Ken Holland said Sunday afternoon that the team would have no update on forward Darren Helm until after he undergoes tests on Monday.

Helm left midway through the first period Saturday with an upper-body injury. Holland said it is not a head injury. It may have happened on a hit from Shea Weber and further aggravated on a hit from Seth Jones.

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