Jonathan Ericsson-10-31-14

Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson checks the Kings' Justin Williams during Detroit's 5-2 win on Friday.

(The Associated Press)

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings aren't a big team, and they rarely fight. But they're also not going to stand by idly while opponents take cheap shots.

At least that was the message Jonathan Ericsson sent to Jordan Nolan Friday after the Los Angeles Kings forward drilled Darren Helm from behind into the glass early in the third period of the Red Wings' 5-2 victory at Joe Louis Arena.

Ericsson pounced on Nolan right away, leading to a scrum.

"That hit doesn't belong in the game. I hope those (Kings) players feel the same thing," Ericsson said. "I don't know what he was thinking, but I don't think he wants people to run him like that. It's a dangerous play. Lucky enough Helmer was close enough to the boards so he doesn't go down with his head first."

The oft-injured Helm came away unscathed. Nolan received only a minor penalty for boarding, which doesn't seem right to Ericsson, who got two minutes for roughing.

The NHL's department of player safety said on Saturday than Nolan will have a hearing with the league on Sunday.

"My initial thought was (Nolan) only saw numbers the whole way until contact was made, from my point of view," Ericsson said. "I thought that should've been a game (misconduct) for that hit and that's why I did what I did."

The Stanley Cup champion Kings have several big, physical forwards. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Ericsson felt it was important to let them and other teams know the Red Wings will respond to such hits.

"They have a lot of big guys and we don't have that size on our team," Ericsson said. "If they think they can get away with things like that then we're going to get pushed around. I think anyone would've done the same thing, I was just the closest guy to the hit. I would hope they would do the same thing for me."

Helm appreciates that Ericsson had his back.

"It's awesome. I loved it," Helm said. "You hope that guys are going to stick up for you and when you see that you know it's going to happen on a regular basis. It was great to see him do that. I have a lot of respect for guys who stick up for their teammates."

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