Hurricanes’ Taylor Hall exits game with upper-body injury

The Carolina Hurricanes are already without two key forwards in captain Jordan Staal and star winger Seth Jarvis, and the reigning Stanley Cup champions suffered another blow up front on Tuesday night.

Veteran left winger Taylor Hall exited the Hurricanes’ game against the Washington Capitals during the second period with an upper-body injury, the team announced.

Hall was one-third of Carolina’s best line during its run to the Stanley Cup last summer, putting up 19 points in as many games as he teamed up with Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake to tear through the playoffs.

That trio has remained together at the outset of the new season, and they’ve remained productive, as Hall has notched five points on three goals and two assists through seven contests.

If Hall is forced to miss any additional time, the Hurricanes would almost certainly recall either Bradly Nadeau or Felix Unger Sorum, their two highly touted wing prospects currently playing with their AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves. Jarvis’ spot on the top line was widely expected to go to one of them after training camp, but head coach Rod Brind’Amour has utilized William Carrier in that role.

The Hurricanes rattled off five straight victories after starting the year with a pair of losses to Washington and Florida, quickly running their record to 5-1-1 and jumping back into first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Tuesday’s game marks the last time Alex Ovechkin will visit the Lenovo Center in a regular season game, after the NHL’s all-time leading goalscorer announced last week that this season will be his last in the NHL; it’s also a key showdown between the two favorites to finish atop the Metro.

With Tuesday already marking the team’s eighth game of the season, Carolina will be idle for three days until visiting the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night.