AP While the Carolina Hurricanes are in a good position to bolster their Southeast Division lead this weekend, it might come at the cost of some key players.
First, it was defenseman Joni Pitkanen on Saturday. Now it looks like workhorse goalie Cam Ward might have gotten injured during Sunday’s rematch against the Florida Panthers.
The Raleigh News & Observer’s Luke DeCock reports that Ward, 29, was banged up as the result of a collision that began between Justin Faulk and Jack Skille. It seems like his ankle was pinned against the post after Faulk slid into him, possibly resulting in an ankle or groin injury.
He briefly remained in Carolina’s net but eventually elected to leave the game. DeCock said that Ward did not look good exiting the ice. At the moment, the severity of the injury is unclear.
Ward has played the majority of Carolina’s games this season, yet one bright side is that backup Dan Ellis generated nice numbers in his spot starts. The 32-year-old’s record isn’t great (3-2-0), but he has a better save percentage (.925 to .905) and GAA (2.39 to 2.93) than Ward so far in 2013.
That’s a small sample size, yet if Ward’s issue is significant, it could be a great opportunity for Ellis (who’s an unrestricted free agent after this season) to prove his value.
As you can see from this post, it’s possible both teams might lose their No. 1 goalies to injuries during this weekend’s home-and-home series.
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