EDMONTON, Alberta - The Edmonton Oilers lost a key player at the beginning of the Stanley Cup finals. Now, it's Carolina's turn to deal with an injury.

Carolina Hurricanes' Doug Weight celebrates his team's second goal against the Edmonton Oilers during the first period of Game 5 of NHL Stanley Cup Finals hockey Wednesday, June 14, 2006 in Raleigh, N.C. (AP PHOTO/CP, Paul Chiasson)

Hurricanes center Doug Weight won't play in Game 6 Saturday after a crushing hit by two Edmonton players apparently left him with an injured shoulder.

"Obviously, it's a tough loss for us," said coach Peter Laviolette, who's usually tightlipped about injuries but decided not to conceal the severity of Weight's condition. "Doug is a part of the reason we have gotten this far."

The Hurricanes won't get much sympathy from the Oilers.

Edmonton goalie Dwayne Roloson, a major reason the eighth-seeded team made it to the finals, sustained a series-ending knee injury in the waning minutes of Game 1 when he was knocked into the net during a goal-mouth collision.

The Oilers rallied around third-string goalie Jussi Markkanen, who has played well enough to keep the series going this far, though Carolina still leads 3-2.

The Hurricanes are confident they can close out the series without Weight, a 35-year-old center who was acquired from St. Louis in January to provide some depth and leadership on the front line.

"Weight is a great player and we're going to miss him tremendously," said Eric Staal, the team's top scorer during the regular season and in the playoffs. "But we've had other guys go down and other guys step up."

Indeed, Carolina already has shown it can cope with injuries, reaching the finals even though 30-goal scorer Erik Cole went down with a fractured neck in early March and several other players have been banged up.

"I'm not sure that many teams sustained as many injuries as we did," Laviolette said. "We had, I think, close to 270 man-games lost through the course of the season, yet we were always able to maintain a winning attitude and record."

But the Hurricanes are clearly hurting, and the Oilers believe their physical play is taking a toll in the series. Torres, in particular, has been a one-man wrecking crew.

Age could be another factor. Many of Carolina's top players — not just Weight — are in their 30s, including centers Mark Recchi (38) and Rod Brind'Amour (35), left wingers Ray Whitney (34) and Cory Stillman (32), and defensemen Glen Wesley (37), Bret Hedican (35), Aaron Ward (33) and Frantisek Kaberle (32).

"The big thing is that we know they're a little bit older than us," said Ryan Smyth of the Oilers, who turned 30 earlier this year. "If we can continue to be relentless, then great."

In Game 5, Weight was sandwiched between Torres and Chris Pronger on a check in the opening minute of the third period. The Carolina player doubled over in pain and headed to the bench, both arms hanging limply at his side.

The Hurricanes haven't revealed any particulars about the injury, though it appeared Weight's right shoulder took the brunt of it. He returned to the bench during the game, but never got back on the ice.

"I have a lot of respect for the way Dougie plays the game, Torres said. "The last thing I want to do is hurt him. But I thought it was a clean hit. I didn't think there was anything dirty about it. It was just unfortunate."

Laviolette wouldn't say if Weight might return for Game 7.

"I have no comment on that right now," the coach said. "But for Game 6, he's not available."

Weight, who had never played in the Stanley Cup finals, made it for the first time after waiving a no-trade clause so he could be dealt to Carolina by the lowly St. Louis Blues.

The 15-year-old veteran wasn't asked to take on as much of an offensive role with the Hurricanes, finishing with 15 goals and 42 assists during the regular season.

But Weight scored a crucial third-period goal against Buffalo in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, and he had played in all 23 of Carolina's contests during the playoffs.

"If you back through the playoffs at some of the big plays that he's made and some of the big goals that he scored or some of the big passes that he made like only Doug Weight can, he's a big part of it," Laviolette said.

Matt Cullen will likely move back to center to cover for his injured teammate. He played the position before the trade for Weight, then finished out the season as a winger. Kevyn Adams and Josef Vasicek also are capable of moving to the middle from their winger positions.

"I've played a lot of wing the last month and a half, so I was starting to feel comfortable at wing," said Cullen, who has four goals and 12 assists in the playoffs. "But certainly center is my natural position, and I've played that since I was in school."

Ward also was hurt in Game 5, but he practiced Friday and plans to be in the lineup.

"I am not injured," the personable defenseman said. "I had to fix something."

Ward didn't look so good on Wednesday. In the second period, he staggered to the locker room with a vaguely described "upper-body injury" after a crushing blow from Torres into the boards. In the third, Ward hobbled off again after being caught in the foot with one of Pronger's fearsome slap shots.

"I'm all in one piece," Ward insisted. "Everything works as it's supposed to. Everything's fine."