Hurricanes forwards Robinson, Carrier to be out “an extended period”
The Carolina Hurricanes pulled out a gutsy 5-4 win in a shootout on the road against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night, but it came at a cost.
Two of the team’s bottom six forwards, Eric Robinson and William Carrier, left the game with injuries. Robinson had scored a goal in the first period before his departure.
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour delivered an update after the game, and he told reporters including team reporter Walt Ruff after the game that both Robinson and Carrier were likely to be out “an extended period.”
Ouch.
Rod Brind'Amour tells the broadcast post-game that he expects both William Carrier and Eric Robinson to be out for an extended period.
Nothing definitive regarding K'Andre Miller, but "that could be a while" too. pic.twitter.com/L2yBArAjq3
Robinson had been thriving on the team’s fourth line alongside Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Andrei Svechnikov. The 30-year-old winger has three goals and an assist for four points in seven games.
Carrier was a key cog in Carolina’s checking line with captain Jordan Staal and winger Jordan Martinook, and he had a goal and two assists to start the year to go with a plus-5 rating.
With the two out for the foreseeable future, Mark Jankowski is likely to jump into the team’s lineup. Carolina will also have to add a forward from their AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves with Juha Jaaska, Givani Smith, Bradly Nadeau, Ryan Suzuki and Justin Robidas among the options to be recalled.
Injuries are starting to pile up for the 6-1-0 Hurricanes. Star defenseman Jaccob Slavin has been out since the second game of the year, and his fellow left-side blueliners Shayne Gostisbehere and K’Andre Miller have gotten hurt during the team’s six-game road trip.
The trip started with Carolina sweeping the state of California. They then dropped their first game of the year against Vegas before bouncing back with the win over Colorado.
There’s one game left on this road trip, and it comes on Saturday night against the Dallas Stars. The game will mark the first meeting between the two teams since the blockbuster trade at the 2025 deadline that sent Mikko Rantanen to the Stars in return for a package centered around Logan Stankoven.