Injury Updates: Skinner, Hjalmarsson, Rangers, Enstrom

After taking the morning skate today, the Hurricanes have sent left winger Jeff Skinner back to Raleigh to be evaluated for an upper body injury, Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer reports (Twitter link).  The exact nature of the injury was not disclosed but he did take a hit to the head on Sunday night against the Flames.

Skinner leads Carolina in scoring this season with 20 points and 20 assists through 57 games.  There’s no word on how much time he’ll miss but it’s safe to say he’ll be out tomorrow against Tampa Bay as well.  As a result of the injury coupled with Viktor Stalberg’s trade to the Senators, the Hurricanes only dressed 11 forwards against the Panthers tonight.

Other injury news from around the league:

• Blackhawks blueliner Niklas Hjalmarsson will miss at least the next three games as a result of an upper body injury sustained against the Coyotes last Thursday, notes CSN Chicago’s Tracey Myers. Chicago has four days off following Saturday’s game and head coach Joel Quenneville is hopeful that Hjalmarsson will be ready to return at that time.  He was placed on IR earlier today to make roster room for the recently-acquired Johnny Oduya.  Also with the Hawks, goalie Corey Crawford (illness) returned to practice today but will not start tomorrow against the Blues to give him a couple of extra days to recover.
• Rangers center Mika Zibanejad was a late scratch for tonight after taking the warmup, the team announced via their Twitter page. He took a hit to the wrist late Sunday against the Blue Jackets.  New York will also be without defenseman Dan Girardi for the next two weeks to allow right ankle to fully heal up, reports Newsday’s Steve Zipay.  Fellow blueliner Kevin Klein remains out with back spasms and there’s no word yet on when he’ll be able to return to the lineup.
• Jets defender Toby Enstrom is expected to suit up tonight after missing the last five games after undergoing minor surgery for a lower body injury back on February 16th, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun reports.  The 32 year old hasn’t produced much offensively this season (just 14 points in 55 games) but logs the third most minutes of any Winnipeg skater, behind only Dustin Byguglien and Jacob Trouba (who serves the second game of his suspension tonight).