It has been a particularly tough start to the season for the Hurricanes on the injury front with over 40% of their season-opening roster dealing with some sort of injury or illness within the first six weeks. Two more players joined that list last night against Vancouver as winger Seth Jarvis and center Jesperi Kotkaniemi departed.
Jarvis took a high stick to his eye from teammate Andrei Svechnikov and left early in the first period although head coach Rod Brind’Amour noted to reporters postgame including Justin Pelletier of the Raleigh News & Observer that the early thought is that Jarvis shouldn’t be out for too long. Jarvis has been a key producer in the early going with 10 goals and 16 points in 17 appearances so far.
Kotkaniemi’s situation is a little murkier. He departed in the second period after blocking a shot with Brind’Amour noting after the game that the center is dealing with an ankle injury. Whether that’s a sprain, a fracture, or something else remains to be seen, making his potential return date more uncertain. The 25-year-old has three goals and two assists in 15 games this season, his lowest point-per-game average since his sophomore season with Montreal back in 2019-20.
Meanwhile, Svechnikov won’t face any supplemental discipline for his elbow on Canucks blueliner Filip Hronek late in last night’s game, reports Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic (Twitter link). The incident occurred late in the third period with no penalty call on the play; Hronek was subsequently pulled by the concussion spotter and did not return. Dhaliwal notes that Hronek’s movement on the play while controlling the puck was a direct contributor to Svechnikov’s check getting him in his head instead of his arm which likely played a big role in the decision for there to be no fine or suspension.