Injuries have hit Anaheim up front, so they’ve made a call to the minors.
On Friday, the club announced that Nic Kerdiles has been brought up from AHL San Diego. The move comes after Patrick Eaves missed Game 4 of the Edmonton series with a lower-body injury, and with Eaves’ replacement -- rookie Ondrej Kase -- playing just 2:03 before a Milan Lucic crosscheck ended his night.
Kerdiles, 23, was Anaheim’s second-round pick (36th overall) at the 2012 draft, and made his NHL debut earlier this season. He’s coming off a stellar opening Calder Cup playoff round performance, scoring six points in five games as the Gulls dispatched of Ontario.
Neither Eaves nor Kase participated in today’s morning skate, putting their availability in question for tonight. Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle could either go with Kerdiles at forward, or re-insert tough guy Jared Boll up front.
Boll has appeared in one game this postseason -- Anaheim’s 2-1 loss to Edmonton in Game 2, in which he played just over four minutes.