Carolina Hurricanes’ Max Pacioretty suffers lower-body injury
Carolina Hurricanes forward Max Pacioretty was helped off the ice late in the third period during Thursdays 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild. Pacioretty left the game with a lower body injury. He logged 16:38 of ice time.
“It doesn’t look good. I mean, we don’t know, but it doesn’t look good.” – Rod Brind’Amour’s opening comments, post-game, regarding the injury to Max Pacioretty inside the final minute.
“Hopefully it’s not as bad as we think, but I’m not too optimistic right now.”
Pacioretty was recently activated off the injured reserve after missing nearly three months of action while recovering from an Achillies injury that he underwent surgery for in August. He missed both games last weekend against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks following a lower-body injury he sustained against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It appears that Pacioretty has sustained another Achillies-related injury. He grabbed the same leg that was previously hurt. Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour told media that Pacioretty will undergo an MRI Friday which will determine results and timeline. This season, he has registered three goals in four games.
Pacioretty was acquired in an off season deal with the Vegas Golden Knights that saw the Hurricanes acquire the 34-year-old winger and defenseman Dylan Coghlan in exchange for future considerations. The move was purely a salary cap dump. Last season with the Golden Knights’ he registered 37 points (19G, 18A) in 39 games, along with 12 power-play points and a plus-8 rating. He has surpassed the 30 goal marker six times throughout his 850 game career so far. Pacioretty is currently in the last year of a four year $28 million contract he signed with the Golden Knights in 2018.