The Edmonton Oilers will be without one of their top defencemen for a bit of time.
Mattias Ekholm was forced to exit early in the third period of Thursday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes after a collision with William Carrier.
Ekholm appeared to hit his head on the ice as he attempted the play the puck in his own zone before the hit from Carrier.
He stayed on his knees as he was attended to by the trainers. Ekholm eventually got to his feet and made his way off the ice, but appeared unsteady and needed assistance from teammates.
The Oilers quickly ruled Ekholm out for the remainder of the contest. After the game, head coach Mike Babcock said he didn't have a specific update but estimated Ekholm would miss a week or more.
"Obviously it didn't look very pretty," Babcock said. "He's a bit of a Viking anyways, so he'll be OK in a couple of weeks."
Ekholm, 36, entered Thursday's game with one goal and two assists in nine games.
The Oilers won the game 6-5 in a shootout.
