Darren Helm

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Darren Helm had surgery to repair lacerated tendons in his right forearm Wednesday night and will be miss the rest of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs for the Red Wings.

The Wings speedy center suffered a deep cut to his arm when he was accidently struck by a skate blade after he checked Nashville forward Alexander Radulov late in the first period.

With 6:26 left in the period, and Cory Emmerton in the penalty box for interference, Helm hustled to check Radulov along the half wall. The collision forced the Russian forward to fall backwards onto the ice. As his right leg raised up, the blade clipped Helm in the arm.

Helm circled around the left face-off dot before he seemed to realize the magnitude of the accident. He immediately tossed his stick and gloves to the ice and dashed to the bench, hopped over the wall and headed directly down the tunnel to the team’s locker room inside Bridgestone Arena.

Following his team’s 3-2 loss, coach Mike Babcock said that the cut “was pretty severe.”

Helm was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in downtown Nashville where he underwent surgery to repair the severed tendons and remained overnight.

Helm was making his return Wednesday after missing the last 10 games of the regular-season with a sprained left knee suffered in San Jose on March 17. He only skated 3:08 on six shifts before the accident occurred.

It’s expected that Helm will be released from the hospital later today and will stay with the team in Nashville before returning to Detroit following Friday’s Game 2 against the Predators, who hold a 1-0 series lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinals.

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