Hurricanes’ William Carrier leaves game with upper-body injury

The Carolina Hurricanes have announced that William Carrier has left Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights due to an upper-body injury.

Carrier sustained the injury late in the first period of Saturday’s game when he received a hit from Golden Knights defenseman Jeremy Lauzon. Carrier went to the locker room shortly after the hit, and while he returned to action for a bit, but only skated a few more shifts before leaving the game again. The Canes confirmed his departure from the game at the start of the third period.

Carrier finished the game with two hits and two giveaways in 6:51 of ice time in the game, highlighted by a turnover during his brief return that ultimately led to the 3-0 goal from Vegas in the second period.

Carrier wasn’t the only injury concern the Hurricanes had to deal with in Game 3, as Jalen Chatfield also missed some time at the end of the first period due to a potential injury. However, after departing for the dressing room, he returned to the game around the same time Carrier first left the game.

Carrier has had a quiet playoff run from a productive standpoint, as he has just four assists in 16 games. However, the former Golden Knight is better known for his defensive game, which he has still managed well during the Canes’ run to the Cup Final.

Carrier also had seven goals and 11 assists for 18 points in 70 games during the regular season with Carolina.

Should Carrier miss any further games, it’ll will end a clean bill of health for the Hurricanes since Alexander Nikishin returned from a concussion in Game 3 of the second round against the Philadelphia Flyers. It’s unclear who would swap into the lineup in Carrier’s place should he miss Game 4 and beyond, but so far, Nicolas Deslauriers was the forward drawn in when Carolina had their only other playoff injury to a forward in Game 4 of the first round against the Ottawa Senators.