Carolina Hurricanes’ Justin Faulk week to week with upper-body injury

The Carolina Hurricanes are looking at an extended period with one of their top defensemen on the shelf. Coach Bill Peters announced today following the morning skate in New Jersey that defenseman Justin Faulk was “week to week” with an upper body injury suffered in Sunday’s game against the Devils at PNC Arena.

Faulk missed 17 games last season in February and March after suffering a leg injury. The injury he suffered on Sunday occurred early in the third period when he got tangled up with Taylor Hall along the boards. Faulk left the game and did not return, and he had an MRI on Monday which indicated the extent of his injury.

The injury comes at a difficult time for the Canes, who play three more times this week and are already trying to work Ryan Murphy back into the lineup after a training-camp injury caused Murphy to miss the first ten games of the season.

Faulk leads Canes skaters in ice time, averaging more than 24 minutes per game, two and a half more than the next closest player. He is second to Noah Hanifin in points among defensemen with six in 11 games, and is tied for fourth on the team with Jordan Staal with three goals, leading the Canes’ blueliners in that category.

As Kyle reported earlier, the Canes are likely going to insert both Jakub Nakladal and Klas Dahlbeck into the lineup, giving Murphy the night off.