Carolina forward Nino Niederreiter is likely to miss the rest of the Hurricanes’ second-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning due to an upper-body injury, coach Rod Brind’Amour said.
Niederreiter was injured Saturday in practice and sat out the Hurricanes’ 2-1 loss Sunday in the best-of-seven series. Brind’Amour said his team felt Niederreiter’s absence.
“Well he’s a goal-scorer, you know?” Brind’Amour said. “We just talked about, we need goals. You don’t replace that. He’s on that power play too. It’s an offensive weapon that goes out the window. Again, that’s part of the playoffs. Next guy up. Have to fill the shoes.”
Cedric Paquette replaced Niederreiter in the lineup on Sunday.
On the season, tallied 34 points (20 goals, 14 assists) in 56 games. He had one goal in the first-round series in six games against the Nashville Predators.
Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday in Raleigh, N.C.
–Field Level Media