Hurricanes’ Shayne Gostisbehere activated off injured reserve, eligible to play Tuesday against Golden Knights

The Carolina Hurricanes could have some reinforcements on the way for their game on Tuesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights.

According to the NHL media site, defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere was activated by the team off of injured reserve, making him eligible to suit up for the game. Gostisbehere was injured on the front end of Carolina’s six-game road trip that just wrapped up in Dallas.

The team went 4-2-0 on the swing that is meant to accommodate the North Carolina State Fair, which takes place in the immediate vicinity of the Lenovo Center, but suffered a rash of injuries along the way.

The veteran offensive defenseman was off to a phenomenal start to the season with a goal and six assists for seven points in five contests.

With Gostisbehere sidelined, the team ultimately lost the entire left side of its defensive unit as Jaccob Slavin did not make the trip to begin with and K’Andre Miller missed the last two games of the swing.

Goalie Pyotr Kochetkov has missed the entire season so far, and forwards William Carrier and Eric Robinson also were forced out of action with injuries during the trip.

When the team returned to Raleigh for practice on Monday, Gostisbehere was out there in a regular jersey, even quarterbacking the team’s top power play unit. The Canes are dead last in the NHL in power play conversion rate with a mark of 6.9%, and Gostisbehere’s return would represent welcome help for the unit. Kochetkov was on the ice for practice as well, though the same can not be said for any of the other aforementioned injured players.

The Hurricanes and Golden Knights will drop the puck at 6:30 PM EST as part of the NHL’s annual Frozen Frenzy event that sees all 32 teams in action on the same night with staggered start times to ensure that fans can watch live hockey at any point in the evening and night.