Injury Report: Andersen, Gostisbehere Return To The Ice

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Carolina Hurricanes have been bit by the injury bug lately but got two doses of welcomed news on Wednesday.

Before the team practiced at Invisalign Arena, defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (upper-body injury) was seen working one-on-one with Assistant Coach Tim Gleason. Banged up on Dec. 27 in New Jersey, "Ghost" had been rolling to start his second stint in Raleigh, producing a blue-line best 27 points in 35 games.

Notably, the power play has slowed to a crawl without him, going just 2-for-19 (10.9%), 28th among all NHL teams during his absence. Ty Smith, Gostisbehere's fill-in as the quarterback on the team's first power play unit, has one of those two goals, however.

Rod Brind'Amour did not have an updated timeline for the 31-year-old defenseman but noted that the next step in the process will be him practicing with the full team.

After #4 went back to the locker room and the full group made their way to the ice for today's skate, one of the first through the door was goaltender Frederik Andersen.

Out since Oct. 26, the veteran backstop underwent knee surgery on Nov. 22 and today was the first time he was back to work with the team.

"It's a good step to get closer to playing and it's fun to be back out there with the guys," Andersen said when he spoke to the media following. "It feels good."

Andersen acknowledged that the past few years have been challenging for him due to a variety of injuries and last year's blood-clotting condition, but he's attacking his return this time around with a positive outlook.

"It's obviously not a fun thing to go through, seeing some adversity. You just kind of take it in stride," the goalie continued. "It's a tough sport to play, obviously, and sometimes you get beat up. I'm just trying to take it with the right mindset and do what I can to be back as quick as possible and help the guys out."

Initially expected to miss 8-12 weeks, there was no amendment to that timeframe and right now "Zilla" is just trying to be on the ice with the group as often as he can be.

"This time of year you just try and get as many practices as possible. I know that post-Christmas is usually a tough game schedule, so obviously the guys will be off the ice a bit more," Andersen added. "Right now, the focus is just on being on the ice as much as possible, getting the live-action shots, and [facing] as much unpredictability as possible. Today was a good first step."

The 35-year-old had been stellar before going down, starting the campaign 3-1 with a .941 save percentage. When he does return to game action, his next appearance will be his 500th in the National Hockey League.

To conclude the day of injury updates, Brind'Amour said that the team still isn't sure how long they'll be without forward William Carrier.

The summer signee suffered a lower-body injury during Saturday's loss to the Minnesota Wild and both the team and the player are exploring all options before making a decision on what comes next.

The Canes continue a stretch of six games in nine days on Thursday when they open a back-to-back set at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs.