Carlos Monarrez

Detroit Free Press

Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill didn’t mince words when he was asked about Leo Komarov’s hit that sidelined Pavel Datsyuk for much of the second period during Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Yeah, I think it’s a cheap play,” Blashill said.

At the end of the first period, Datsyuk got tangled along the boards with the Leafs’ Komarov and Nazem Kadri. All three players spilled to the ice. As Kadri fell, Datsyuk tried to jump over him. That’s when Komarov flew into the pile and landed on Datsyuk’s back. Komarov appeared to use his left forearm to shove Datsyuk’s head into the ice.

Datsyuk left the game and was listed as questionable to return with an upper-body injury. He returned during the second period and showed no ill effects from any injury, although he could be seen wiping blood from his face on the bench. Datsyuk played at an inspired pace in the third period and had a game-high seven shots on goal.

Datsyuk, fourth on the team with 38 points, was not in the dressing room after the game when reporters arrived.

Detroit Red Wings' Petr Mrazek starts consecutive days

•Powerless: The Wings entered the game with the 22nd-ranked power play in the NHL and they lived down to that billing Sunday, when they managed only three shots on three power plays over 6 minutes.

“Once again, it comes down to power play and we didn’t create enough there today, either,” Henrik Zetterberg said. “When teams play like this, it’s really tight. You’ve got to take advantage when they’re in a box.”

The Wings did little on their first two power plays, which both came in the second period. On their final power-play chance, in the third period, they had better puck movement and nearly scored when Datsyuk sent a nice cross-ice pass through the slot to Dylan Larkin, who was stoned by Jonathan Bernier at point-blank range.

“They pressure you really hard,” Blashill said of the Leafs, who entered with the NHL’s worst penalty kill. “So when teams pressure you really hard you’re going to get one or two big-time chances. And we certainly had one in the third that we’d like to see go in the net.”

•Helm out: Darren Helm, who scored twice in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win over the Rangers, did not play because of the flu.

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez..