A star forward leaves the ice in distress after a collision. His potential loss could severely impact the Hurricanes' potent offense.
UPDATE: Nikolaj Ehlers has returned to the ice for the second period and looks to be good after the first period injury scare.
ORIGINAL: Things don't look so good for the Carolina Hurricanes right now.
In the first period of the Canes' Tuesday night game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, star forward Nikolaj Ehlers went awkwardly into the boards after an attempted hit by Erik Karlsson and it was immediately clear that he was in distress.
Karlsson didn't really catch Ehlers very hard, but the Danish winger went down instantly and appeared to clutch at both his right knee as well as right wrist.
Ehlers was able to stand under his own power, but was helped off the ice by his teammates. He remained on the bench briefly before heading back to the locker room.
The 30-year-old forward has had a big first year in Carolina, where he has 20 goals and 50 points in 63 games.
The speedy forward has been a big part of the team's offense both at 5v5 and on the power play and losing him would definitely be a huge blow to the team.
Hopefully it was just a stinger, but we'll see what the future holds for Ehlers.
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