Hurricanes place Max Pacioretty on injured reserve

Watch as Carolina Hurricanes forward Max Pacioretty appears to suffer a non-contact lower leg injury in the final minute of a game against the Minnesota Wild, and is helped off the ice by training staff.

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes placed winger Max Pacioretty on injured reserve Friday a day after he suffered a non-contact injury late in a win against Minnesota.

Placing a player on IR means they will be out a minimum of seven days and allows the team add a replacement to its roster.

Pacioretty went down with 19.3 seconds left in the game while he had control of the puck near the goal and the boards. He pulled up as he tried to change directions and grabbed at the back of his lower right leg.

He had to be helped to the locker room while putting no weight on that leg — the same one that required surgery for a torn Achilles tendon over the summer.

Coach Rod Brind’Amour said Friday he didn’t have an update on the severity of the injury.

“Not in very good spirits, as you know,” Brind’Amour said of Pacioretty. “He’s getting checked out today … It’s kind of what you would expect.”

The Hurricanes had acquired Pacioretty from Vegas in a July trade in hopes of him filling a need as a wing scoring option. He made his season debut on Jan. 5 and played four games, then missed two with a lower-body injury before returning Thursday.

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