In the 12th minute of Sunday's game, winger Jacob Kiraz injured the medial cruciate ligament in his right knee when his legs became twisted in a tackle and is set for time on the sidelines.
The winger is enjoying a breakout season and led the Dally M Medal leaderboard after three rounds and he will be a significant loss to a Bulldogs side already missing their other first-choice winger, Josh Addo-Carr.
Kiraz's substitution forced the Bulldogs to reshuffle their backline.
Jayden Okunbor shifted from the left wing to the right, rookie centre Paul Alamoti replaced Okunbor on the left and bench forward Jackson Topine came on at left centre.
Only minutes after Kiraz went down, centre Jake Averillo injured his kneecap in a tackle from Eels winger Maika Sivo but hobbled on through obvious discomfort.
The Bulldogs forged on but before long, the Eels began exploiting the makeshift edges, scoring three tries down the flanks in six minutes to open up a 16-0 lead at halftime.
Parramatta were never again as clinical, but the buffer proved decisive.
The Eels' forward pack leader Junior Paulo made a solid return from suspension but it was his front-row partner Reagan Campbell-Gillard who was the most troublesome for Canterbury.
The depleted Bulldogs began dreaming of a comeback in the second half when Matt Burton sent a grubberkick along the ground for Alamoti, who scored his first NRL try.
But Campbell-Gillard shut the door on the Bulldogs when he barged through three defenders for a try under the posts. He finished with a game-high 198 metres.
Maika Sivo iced the win with his second try in the final minutes, ensuring he will finish round seven with nine tries for the season, leaving him on top of the try-scoring charts.
Eels coach Brad Arthur challenged Dylan Brown to step up this week and the five-eighth heeded the call with two forced dropouts in the first half.
Canterbury recruit Reed Mahoney had an disappointing first game against his old club, dropping the ball from dummy-half in the lead-up to what could have been a Matt Burton try and conceding a penalty for a late hit on Mitch Moses.
The victory is a much-needed shot in the arm for last year's runners-up, who had made a habit of losing close games on their way to 2-4 start to the season.
Canterbury, meanwhile, have lost their past two games by a combined total of 60 points and things won't get any easier given they face Cronulla next week.
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