Injuries piling up for Hurricanes during playoff run
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Carolina Hurricanes goalie Petr Mrazek is day to day with a lower body injury while defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk is out with an upper body injury.
Coach Rod Brind'Amour also said Monday forward Saku Maenalanen is expected to miss the rest of the second-round series with the New York Islanders with an upper body injury.
Brind'Amour spoke a day after the Hurricanes' list of injuries grew considerably during a 2-1 victory in New York that gave Carolina a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 3 is Wednesday night.
Mrazek, who has 210 saves on 230 shots faced while going 5-3 in the playoffs, left Sunday's game 6½ minutes into the second period. He was replaced by Curtis McElhinney, who stopped all 17 shots he saw.
Brind'Amour described Mrazek's status as "actually good news" because it means the injury doesn't appear to be long term. Still, the team recalled goalie Alex Nedeljkovic from its AHL affiliate in Charlotte on an emergency basis.
Van Riemsdyk was hurt about 30 seconds into Sunday's game after taking a hard hit from Cal Clutterbuck. He skated off the ice holding his left shoulder and sat on the bench for several minutes before heading to the dressing room. Maenalanen was injured in the third period.
In all, six Hurricanes are dealing with publicly disclosed injuries, with three of them coming during the first-round series against the Washington Capitals.
Forwards Andrei Svechnikov (concussion protocol) and Micheal Ferland (upper body) have not played since Game 3 of the Washington series and have been characterized as day to day by Brind'Amour, who says their availability will be determined after practice Tuesday.
Additionally, forward Jordan Martinook — who left Game 4 against Washington with a lower body injury after his heel slammed into the boards while he attempted a hit — returned two games later. Brind'Amour says having three days between games will benefit Martinook, whose injury has "been nagging him for a long time."
