Hurricanes rest Ward for Chicago, recall Peters

Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network
Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network

RALEIGH, N.C. – The Carolina Hurricanes recalled goaltender Justin Peters from the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL) on an emergency basis as announced by the team on Monday.

The Hurricanes also placed goaltender Anton Khudobin on the injured reserve list with a lower-body injury that he suffered during the team’s 5-3 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on Sunday.

At the time of his injury in the second period, Khudobin had made 18 saves on 20 shots faced.

“It’s an unfortunate thing to see him go off like that last night,” Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller said after practice on Monday.

“Hopefully he’s back sooner than later, and it’s not as bad. We’ll get some reports today and results from the tests.”

At the same time Peters would be making his trip from the Queen City, the team’s number one goaltender Cam Ward, who finished Sunday’s game against Phoenix making nine saves on 12 shots faced after replacing Khudobin, got a rest from practice.

“Wardo’s good to go,” Muller said.

When asked the reasoning in having Ward take the day off, Muller concurred that it was to prepare for the team’s upcoming home game on Tuesday against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.

“Yeah, just to give him a little rest and get him ready to go for tomorrow night,” he said.

As the backup, Peters, 27, comes in with a current AHL record of 1-0-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .941 save percentage playing for the Checkers this season.

He appeared in 19 games for the Hurricanes in 2012-13, going 4-11-1 with a 3.46 goals-against average.

Selected by the Hurricanes in the second round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, Peters has appeared in 47 career NHL games with Carolina, and has a career record of 15-22-4 with a 3.32 goals-against average and two shutouts.