The Carolina Hurricanes have announced that the team has placed goaltender Cam Ward on injured reserve and recalled goaltender Mike Murphy from the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League (AHL) on an emergency basis.

Ward was suffered a lower-body injury 4:07 into the first period of the Hurricanes’ game last night at Minnesota. He is expected to miss three to four weeks.

Murphy, 24, is 1-2-0 with a 3.81 goals-against average in three games with Charlotte this season. The Kingston, Ont., native has appeared in two career NHL games with the Hurricanes, playing for 36 minutes without allowing a goal. Murphy was Carolina’s sixth-round selection (165th overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

The team has also activated defenseman Tim Gleason from injured reserve. The team also placed Brett Bellemore on injured reserve after the defenseman suffered a lower-body injury in Carolina’s game at Minnesota on Thursday.

Gleason, 30, has yet to make his regular-season debut after suffering a concussion in Carolina’s preseason game on Sept. 21 at Montreal. The Clawson, MI, native is in his 10th NHL season, and his eighth with the Hurricanes, and will play his 600th NHL game with his next game played. Prior to missing the team’s first 10 games this season, Gleason (6’0”, 217 lbs.) had missed just six games in each of the last three NHL seasons. He ranks fourth in franchise history in games played by a defenseman (474), behind only Glen Wesley (913), Adam Burt (626) and Niclas Wallin (517).

The Carolina Hurricanes take on the Colorado Avalanche tonight at the Pepsi Center in Denver (9 p.m. ET, SportSouth, Hurricanes Radio Network). The Hurricanes then will return to Raleigh to host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday at PNC Arena in the first game of a two-game home stand.

– News release