Carolina Hurricanes lose James Wisniewski to knee injury

James Wisniewski’s first season with the Carolina Hurricanes may have lasted 47 seconds.

The veteran defenseman suffered a torn ACL Thursday in the Canes’ season opener against the Nashville Predators. The injury will require surgery, and Wisniewski, obtained in an offseason trade with the Anaheim Ducks, may need as long as six months to recover.

Wisniewski, 31, was paired with defenseman John-Michael Liles and putting in his second shift of the game when he was injured along the boards at the Preds’ Bridgestone Arena.

“He was battling for a puck, and a (Preds) guy kind of fell down when ‘Wiz’ outmuscled him,” Liles said Friday. “It was how (Wisniewski) planted, and the ice at Nashville is known to have some pretty big ruts. I don’t know if he got caught in a rut, but as soon as he went down and grabbed at his knee, obviously it doesn’t look good. It’s tough.”

It’s the second straight season the Canes have dealt with a major injury. Center Jordan Staal broke his right leg in an exhibition last fall and missed the first 35 games of the season.

“Any time you lose someone in your starting lineup, it certainly hurts,” Carolina general manager Ron Francis said Friday. “We felt ‘Wiz’ could come in and play in our top four on defense and help on the power play. We had him for 47 seconds.

“No one feels worse about it than he does. I talked to him (Friday), and he said this was not the way he wanted to get his Hurricanes career started. But we’ll just deal with it as best we can.”

Defenseman Michal Jordan, a healthy scratch Thursday, will move into the lineup for the Canes’ home opener Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings.

The Canes on Friday recalled defenseman Danny Biega from the Charlotte Checkers, their American Hockey League affiliate. Francis said other Checkers defensemen, including Rasmus Rissanen, Keegan Lowe, Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce, could be considered, but he said the team also was looking into potential trades and available free agents.

“I’ve called a lot of different people,” Francis said. “We’ll see if anyone has an extra defenseman they’re willing to move, but a trade or a free agent has to make sense for us. We’ve got some good young defensemen.”

Wisniewski was helped off the ice by Liles and Elias Lindholm at three minutes, 16 seconds of the first period. The Hurricanes, playing with five defensemen, lost 2-1.

“Especially losing him early in the game, first game of the year, in a tough building, on their opening night, it put a lot of, I don’t want to say strain, but when you have six defensemen, everybody has a partner and you know who you’re working with,” Liles said. “Then, three minutes in, it all changes. Guys are rotating and guys are playing different sides.”

Justin Faulk and Ron Hainsey, the Canes’ top defensive pair, took on more minutes. So did defensemen Ryan Murphy and Noah Hanifin, the 18-year-old rookie making his NHL debut.

Jordan said he and forward Brad Malone, also a healthy scratch Thursday, were finishing up a workout near the Canes’ locker room at Nashville’s arena as the game began and had a TV on, but they did not see Wisniewski’s injury.

“You hate to see anyone get hurt, and I’m sorry this happened to ‘Wiz,’ but injuries happen, and I have to be ready,” Jordan said.

With Wisniewski possibly out the rest of the season, more will be expected of the older D-men – Hainsey, Faulk and Liles. They have played a combined 1,738 regular-season games in the NHL and will have the toughest defensive matchups.

In contrast, Murphy, Jordan and Hanifin have played a total of 135 games, and Murphy has accounted for 90.

“The responsibility for what ‘Wiz’ was going to do will have to be shared – no one person could do it,” Hainsey said.

The Red Wings played their home opener Friday against the Toronto Maple Leafs and former coach Mike Babcock, then face Carolina to complete their first back-to-back of the season. They’ll be playing in sold-out PNC Arena, where only standing-room tickets were available the past few days.

After a rousing pregame ceremony at their arena, the Predators were flying in the first period. Craig Smith scored a power-play goal after Hainsey broke his stick, and rookie Viktor Arvidsson scored late in the period for a 2-0 lead.

Eric Staal had the Canes’ only goal, with less than two minutes to play in regulation, as the Canes pulled goalie Cam Ward for an extra attacker. Ward, who played well, will start the home opener, Canes coach Bill Peters said Friday.

This story was originally published October 9, 2015 at 6:08 PM with the headline "Carolina Hurricanes lose James Wisniewski to knee injury."