The Carolina Hurricanes have received some good news on the injury front as center Jesperi Kotkaniemi and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere will return to the lineup Wednesday versus the Montreal Canadiens, per team reporter Walt Ruff.
Sidelined for the past four games due to an undisclosed injury, Kotkaniemi has made 76 appearances with the Hurricanes this season in which he has collected 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points coupled with a plus-nine rating and 50 penalty minutes. Currently in his fourth full season with Carolina, the 24-year-old Finnish-born forward is two years removed from a career-high 43 points counting 18 goals and 25 assists in 82 games that came during the 2022-23 campaign.
A veteran of 474 career contests counting stops with the Canadiens and Hurricanes, Kotkaniemi has totaled 75 goals and 117 assists for 192 points. Kotkaniemi has also added 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points through 69 postseason appearances.
For Gostisbehere, the veteran blue-liner returns to the ice following a three-game absence due to a back injury. It marked the second time this season that Gostisbehere has missed time, coming on the heels of an eight-game stretch through mid-January in which he was sidelined after suffering an upper-body ailment.
On the season, Gostisbehere has seen 68 showings with the Hurricanes in which he has scored seven times while adding 37 assists for 44 points to sit fifth in team scoring and first among defensemen. With it, the 31-year-old native of Pembroke Pines, Fla., has registered 40 penalty minutes and a plus-four rating while averaging more than 18 minutes of time on ice per game.
Gostisbehere is skating in his first full season with the Hurricanes after agreeing to a three-year, $9.6-million deal in unrestricted free agency.
Following Wednesday’s contest against the Canadiens, the Hurricanes will close out their regular-season schedule Thursday versus the Ottawa Senators before beginning their opening-round playoff series against the Metropolitan Division rival New Jersey Devils.