From the Ducks news section.

Terrible news everyone!

Following Tuesday’s practice at Honda Center before the team departed for Vancouver, Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said Lupul is a “candidate for surgery” to repair a back ailment that has caused problems off and on dating back to training camp. The latest flare-up has kept the 26-year-old out of the lineup since Dec. 8.

“We are not 100 percent sure, but it is a probability at this point,” said Carlyle on the chance Lupul will ultimately go under the knife to correct an injury that has limited him to 23 games played so far this season.

Though the pain originally sprouted near the end of camp, Lupul was not forced to miss any regular season action until he sat for seven games from Nov. 21-Dec. 3. When he returned, he was playing arguably his best hockey yet in his second tenure with the Ducks, scoring goals in three straight games (four overall) with a plus-four rating.

Prior to the start of the team’s current road trip, Lupul started to feel some numbness in his legs, possibly as a result of treatment for his back, and he was again taken out of the lineup. Now the forward with 10 goals and 14 points on the season must wait to see what his next options are to help alleviate the lingering issue for good.