Erik Haula ruled out for rest of Golden Knights’ road trip

OTTAWA, Ontario — Erik Haula has been ruled out for the remainder of the Golden Knights’ road trip.

“He’s not going to play the next three games and then he’ll get re-evaluated when we get back home,” coach Gerard Gallant said Wednesday after practice at Canadian Tire Centre.

Haula was injured during the third period of Tuesday’s 3-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The second-line center was driven hard into the boards by Maple Leafs forward Patrick Marleau and crumpled to the ice holding his right knee before eventually being taken off on a stretcher.

Gallant said Haula will remain on the road with the team. The Knights face the Ottawa Senators on Thursday then finish the four-game swing with back-to-back games in Montreal and Boston beginning Saturday.

The Knights faced a similar situation last month when injured forward Paul Stastny was ruled out for the final three games of the first road trip. The team announced he would be out for at least two months once it returned home.

With Haula unavailable, Cody Eakin was centering the second line with Max Pacioretty and Alex Tuch during practice Wednesday.

Eakin is tied with Ryan Reaves for second on the team in goals with four. Early in his career with Dallas, he showed promise in a top-four forward role when injuries hit.

“He steps up. Cody’s a good player, and he’s played good for us all year long,” Gallant said. “He gets an opportunity to go up there. Cody does whatever we ask him to do. He gets probably a little bit more ice time.”

Candid camera

The Senators are still dealing with the fallout from the video of players trashing the team’s coaching staff during an Uber ride in Arizona.

Knights veteran Max Pacioretty said the incident will make players more cautious going forward, though Gallant did his best to downplay what happened.

“All the players talk about coaches all the time, believe me. And vice versa. We talk about them all the time, too,” Gallant said with a grin. “It’s unfortunate. It shouldn’t happen.”

Absentees

Defenseman Deryk Engelland, who missed Tuesday’s game at Toronto, was not with the team Wednesday. Engelland returned to Las Vegas after his son became ill and is expected to rejoin the team during the road trip.

“Everything looks good with his son,” Gallant said. “He’s going to travel back (Wednesday) or (Thursday).”

Also, forward Ryan Reaves was given a maintenance day. Reaves injured his leg in the first period against Toronto and went to the locker room for several minutes before returning.

Food drive

The Knights will hold a canned food drive Friday through Nov. 15 at City National Arena.

Canned goods also will be collected Nov. 16 at Toshiba Plaza prior to the Knights’ home game against St. Louis.

All donations support Three Square Food Bank.

More Golden Knights: Follow online at reviewjournal.com/GoldenKnights and @HockeyinVegas on Twitter.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.