Hurricanes’ Gostisbehere ruled out for Monday night
The Carolina Hurricanes will be without their top offensive defenseman for Monday night’s road game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Shayne Gostisbehere, who sustained an injury during Saturday night’s victory over the Los Angeles Kings, was not on the ice for Carolina’s morning skate, according to team reporter Walt Ruff.
That means he’ll be out of action on Monday after a scorching hot start to the season that saw him put up a goal and six assists for seven points in the Hurricanes’ first five games, all of which have been wins.
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour told reporters after the morning skate that the team does not believe that Gostisbehere’s injury is serious, but that it is enough to preclude him from playing right now.
Rod Brind'Amour says Shayne Gostisbehere's lower-body injury "isn't serious", but it's enough to keep him out of the lineup.
He won't play tonight in Vegas, but he is still with the team on the road trip. pic.twitter.com/w4S6C4MHbZ
This marks the second injury to Carolina’s defensive unit, as top-pairing star Jaccob Slavin is not traveling with the team on their current six-game road trip.
Offseason free agent signing Mike Reilly drew in for the Canes when Slavin went down, and the next man up with Gostisbehere out too will be right-handed defenseman Charles-Alexis Legault.
Legault, a 22-year-old native of Laval, Quebec, will be making his NHL debut on Monday night in Vegas. Legalt was Carolina’s fifth-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft, and he turned pro last year after wrapping up his collegiate career at Quinnipiac University.
In 64 career games with Carolina’s AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves, Legault owns a plus-13 rating to go with 14 points.
He’ll be thrown right into the fire in what stands as one of the most intriguing games of the year so far between the Hurricanes and Golden Knights. Both teams are among the last four teams that have yet to suffer a regulation loss, and Carolina stands as the lone team in the league that has not lost a game at all.