Eakin leveled Lundqvist as he came out to play the puck behind his net. The 25-year-old was assessed a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct on the play.
Lundqvist left the game briefly following the hit, but returned to the crease shortly after.
In the middle of the first period, Lundqvist was playing the puck behind the net when he was charged by Eakin, who was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct on the play.
Eakin said there was no intent on the Lundqvist hit. Said he was going for the puck and momentum carried him. Expects to hear from the NHL.
Stars coach Lindy Ruff stood behind Eakin following the game.
"There was no intent," Ruff told reporters following the 2-0 loss. "As a penalty killer, he's trying to gain speed so he can get back. He chose the route. I watched the play, Henrik was off the wall originally, and I think he just sort of mishandled it for a second and when he went to go play it, he went into the wall.
"Cody said he was just trying to jump by him," Ruff added. "I know it doesn't look that way, but there was no intent on his part."
New York Islanders forward Josh Bailey was the unfortunate recipient of a stick to the face Thursday night, but rather than it being an opponent's, the stick in question was that of teammate John Tavares, which got lodged in the 27-year-old's visor.
Important to note, no penalty was called on the play.
Every Friday this season, theScore's NHL editors are debating a hot-button issue in 'On The Fly,' our roundtable series. This week, we look at storylines that have caught us by surprise this campaign.
Music City Blues
O'Leary: Outside the playoff picture is not where many expected to see the Nashville Predators 29 games into their season.
The Preds were the talk of the offseason, thanks to David Poile pulling the trigger to acquire P.K. Subban, his second big trade of the calendar year after pulling in Ryan Johansen last season.
It felt as if Nashville had all the ingredients to be a real Cup contender, but a pedestrian 13-12-4 record leaves it two points from a wild-card spot and eight back of third in the Central Division.
In fairness, the Predators started just 2-5-1 through October, slowing them down right out of the gate. But they're 3-9-2 away from home this season, and haven't been consistent enough to match their preseason expectations.
Slumping Schneider
McLaren: If the New Jersey Devils were going to have any shot at the playoffs this season, franchise goaltender Cory Schneider would have to be at the top of his game.
Unfortunately, Schneider - who entered the season as a low-key Vezina Trophy candidate - has been anything but.
Following a loss to St. Louis on Thursday, Schneider's record dropped to 9-9-4, and his save percentage rings in at .905, well below his career average of .923.
Even with the addition of Taylor Hall, the Devils' offense has produced a 27th-ranked 71 goals in 29 games, exposing Schneider's struggles even further.
Perhaps the loss of Adam Larsson on the blue line is having more of an effect than anticipated.
Hot Oil
Hagerman: For the first time in nearly a decade, the Edmonton Oilers are a playoff team ... at least for now.
Over the years, it's been hard to get high on the club. Time and time again, the club's stock of high-end draft picks has failed to put it all together the way management envisioned.
This offseason, the team made some drastic moves: shipping out Hall for help on the blue line while also inking Milan Lucic to a contract. It all looked good, but again it was hard to predict better results than those we'd seen in years previous.
However, it's one week before Christmas, and the Oilers hold down third place in the Pacific Division. Sure, the club stormed out of the gate to start the year and has regressed slightly, but it still appears poised for a playoff appearance.
Connor McDavid continues to be as advertised, while Cam Talbot has been solid between the pipes. There is certainly plenty of time for things to go south, but for now the Oilers are on the brink of finally ending a 10-year playoff drought.
The Flyers entered the season with a lot of question marks and crossed fingers, hoping for bounce-back seasons up front and, in goal, that the duo of Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth would hold up.
That's exactly what's happened. After a disappointing 55-point campaign last season, forward Jakub Voracek is on pace for a career year. Only McDavid and the Blues' Vladimir Tarasenko outpace his 33 points.
Meanwhile, center Claude Giroux - an extra for Team Canada at the World Cup - has returned to form with 30 points. And that's not to forget Wayne Simmonds, whose 16 goals are topped by only three players league-wide.
Between the pipes, Mason has caught fire after a sluggish start, and is the first Philly goaltender to rattle off eight straight wins since netminder (and current general manager) Ron Hextall did so in the 1996-97 season.
The Arizona Coyotes sit in 28th place across the NHL, but without Mike Smith in goal, things would be much more bleak in the desert.
The 34-year-old is 7-4-4 on the season, and his latest start - a 44 save effort versus the Maple Leafs Thursday - continued a remarkable stretch of puck-stopping.
The Coyotes allow the most shots per game in the NHL (35.8), three more than the second-worst Islanders. The shot volume makes Smith one of the busiest goalies in the league on a game-to-game basis, but numbers suggest he doesn't care about some extra rubber coming his way.
Number of shots Mike Smith has faced in his last 11 full games: 46, 38, 45, 35, 27, 60, 33, 42, 42, 34, 45. He's stopped 93.6% of 'em too.
Arizona's managed to win five of those Smith starts, mainly because of the netminder's efforts, as the Coyotes rank 28th in shots per game (28.3) and goals for (66).
Eakin delivered a blow to Lundqvist's head in the first period Thursday night, forcing the veteran netminder to briefly exit the game in favor of Antti Raanta, who'd started and won each of the previous four contests.
Lundqvist said he didn't see Eakin coming on the hit, but didn't have any problem going through concussion protocol, according to NHL.com's Sean Shapiro.
Eakin was given a charging major and ejected from the game. Lundqvist returned and posted a 27-save clean sheet that the club announced afterward as the first shared shutout in franchise history.
Lundqvist also moved to within two wins of Dominik Hasek's 389 career victories, the most by a European netminder.
A look at the NHL's points-per-game leaders bumps both McDavid (1.22) and Tarasenko (1.19) down a spot, with Sidney Crosby (1.38) having the advantage in that category.
But the fact Tarasenko ranks only slightly behind arguably the two best players in the game is not something that should be overlooked.
The numbers
With a goal and two assists in Thursday's game against the New Jersey Devils, the St. Louis Blues winger improved his 2016-17 totals to 15 goals and 22 assists in 31 games.
That puts him on pace for 40 goals and 98 points, providing another bump in his yearly positive progression, as seen in his steady rise since breaking into the NHL in 2013.
Season
Games
Goals
Assists
Points/GP
2013
38
8
11
0.50
2013-14
64
21
22
0.67
2014-15
77
37
36
0.95
2015-16
80
40
34
0.93
While Tarasenko's goal against the Devils was further evidence of his ability to score seemingly at will, what's separating him even further from the pack this season is the bump in assists.
A new wrinkle
That element of his game is something head coach Ken Hitchcock has seemed to know was there all along.
Hitch has always maintained Tarasenko is more than a shooter. Have to respect his passing ability. On full display tonight. #stlblues
What's encouraging is his shot rate remains on par with last season, meaning his passing isn't taking away from opportunities to put the puck on net.
Tarasenko is in the second season of an eight-year, $60-million contract with the Blues, and the $7.5 million cap hit could look like an absolute bargain for the foreseeable future if he continues to play at this level.
Based on his track record, there's no reason to believe he won't.
As such, it's time to talk about him as one of the NHL's great superstars.
Unhappy with his playing time as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Holland was dealt to the Arizona Coyotes for a conditional sixth-round pick in 2018 back on Dec. 9.
As fate would have it, Holland's second game with the Coyotes was back in Toronto on Thursday, and the 25-year-old got the last laugh with a shootout winner past Frederik Andersen.
He was awarded the Coyotes' player of the game award for his efforts, capping off as good a night as he could have hoped for.
Peter Holland on scoring winner: "It seems like almost a bit of a storybook ending. You can't really script it much better than that."
