Ducks defenceman Cam Fowler out 2-6 weeks after knee-on-knee

Patrick Eaves scored his eighth goal in nine games, John Gibson made 26 saves and the Anaheim Ducks moved closer to a fifth straight Pacific Division title with a 3-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on

The Anaheim Ducks received some bad news on the blue line on Thursday night.

General manager Bob Murray announced that defenceman Cam Fowler is expected to miss anywhere from two to six weeks after suffering a lower-body injury during Tuesday’s game against the Calgary Flames.

Fowler went down after a knee-on-knee collision with Flames defenceman Mark Giordano and looked to be in significant pain as he was helped off the ice.

Though not as severe as first thought, the loss of Fowler will certainly be felt by the Ducks, who are currently hanging on to first place in the Pacific with 101 points going into Thursday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks. The 25-year-old leads all Anaheim defencemen in ice time and is a significant part of the club’s special teams.

The knee-on-knee incident brewed up more bad blood between the Pacific Division rivals—and potential first round playoff opponents—and sparked some debate about the nature of the hit.

“I think our legs collided,” Giordano told reporters after the game. “I hope he’s OK. You don’t like to see guys get hurt. There was no intent to hurt him there.”

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.