Hurricanes' Williams may be done for season

TAMPA, FLA. -- For Justin Williams and the Carolina Hurricanes, it's just about the worst-case scenario.

The 26-year-old forward probably will miss the rest of the regular season after the team confirmed Friday he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Thursday's 5-4 loss to the Florida Panthers.

Williams will have reconstructive surgery on the knee next week after the swelling goes down and is expected to miss at least four months.

With Chad LaRose and David Tanabe out with concussions and Craig Adams suspended, the Canes recalled forward Brandon Nolan from Albany (AHL) to make his NHL debut tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Canes escaped disaster last weekend when Cory Stillman went down with what appeared to be a serious knee injury only to return -- and lead a late, two-goal rally -- three days later. With Williams, it was the opposite.

During the 2002-03 season, while playing for the Philadelphia Flyers, Williams tore the ACL in his left knee and missed only 36 games, so the possibility exists that he could be back sooner.

But at this point, the Canes have to plan to go forward without him -- a huge loss for a team only three points up in the Southeast Division.

"That kind of goes without saying," said team captain Rod Brind'Amour, who had Williams on his right side for much of the past three seasons. "It could be worse -- as long as no one else goes down, we've got pretty good depth up front. We should be able to score goals and beat people. But obviously it would be nice to have him."

With Williams included, the Canes are the only NHL team with six 30-point scorers.

Although Williams had been slumping lately, with no goals in the past 12 games, he still was second on the team with 21 assists and third in ice time because of the many roles he played on the ice.

"There are a lot of things that go out of the lineup with this injury -- power play, penalty-kill, a player that can play against other teams' top lines, a right-handed shot," Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette said. "It's not going to be easy to replace that."

Williams' streak of 205 consecutive games played, fourth in franchise history, will end tonight.

Scott Walker moved into Williams' spot with Stillman and Brind'Amour. Nolan, the son of New York Islanders coach Ted Nolan, will play on the right wing with Andrew Ladd and Matt Cullen.

To make room for Nolan, who leads Albany in goals with 11 and is second in points with 22, the Hurricanes put LaRose on injured reserve. Nolan was told Thursday night to pack his bags, just in case, and he hopped on a flight Friday to join the team in Tampa, Fla.

"I had to be up early," said Nolan, 24. "I don't think it mattered. I couldn't sleep anyway."