The Carolina Hurricanes will be without Andrei Svechnikov for their tilt against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night as the Russian forward battles a lower-body injury.

The injury to Svechnikov comes at a bad time for the Hurricanes, who are visiting a Devils team that could draw even on points with Carolina with a victory.

Svechnikov’s absence was a game-time decision and is unlikely to warrant a trip to the IR. Sunday’s contest will be the first that the player misses this season.

Svechnikov’s offense will be missed by a ‘Canes team that has scored just once over their past two games, a 1-0 victory over the Flyers and a 4-0 shutout loss to the Golden Knights.

The number two overall pick in the 2018 draft, Svechnikov is following up a breakout 30-goal season in 2021-2022 with another strong campaign. The 22-year-old is third on the Hurricanes in goals (22) and joint-second on the team in points (55).

Neither the Hurricanes nor the Devils have missed a beat in their battle to win their division; both teams have won 7 of their last 10 games. Whichever team finishes in second place can look forward to a likely home playoff series with the New York Rangers, who sit 9 points out of the division’s top seed.