The Carolina Hurricanes could not seal the deal on home ice in game five and will have to travel to face the New York Islanders tomorrow night. Unfortunately, one player won’t be making the trip.
Jack Drury will not travel with the Hurricanes after suffering an injury in game four. Instead, team reporter Walt Ruff tweets that Vasily Ponomarev will be traveling as the extra forward.
Ponomarev, 21, was a second-round pick of the Hurricanes in 2020 and has yet to make his NHL debut. In his first full season of AHL action, he put up 24 goals and 46 points in 64 games for the Chicago Wolves.
While he isn’t expected to enter the lineup, just being the next man up shows how much the Hurricanes’ depth has been tested. Teuvo Teravainan, Andrei Svechnikov, Max Pacioretty, and Ondrej Kase would likely be in the lineup if healthy, but the group must find a way to win without them.
Ruff adds that Frederik Andersen is a possibility for tomorrow’s game, after missing the first several with injury. The veteran netminder hasn’t played since April 13.