RALEIGH, NC. - After taking Wednesday to rest and recover, the Carolina Hurricanes flipped the page forward on Thursday, returning to work at PNC Arena.
As they, like us, eagerly await news on when their Round 2 series against the New York Rangers will begin, the team took to the ice without Brett Pesce (lower-body) and Tony DeAngelo (upper-body) each recuperating injuries of their own.
The absence was not a surprise for Pesce, who left during the Game 2 win over the Islanders. Don Waddell said yesterday that it's possible the long-time Hurricane could be an option during the upcoming series, but Rod Brind'Amour had a bit of a different tone following the skate.
"Basically, I'm counting him out. But if we can get him in there, that's a big bonus," the head coach said.
As for DeAngelo, he used the day to rest after taking a heavy slash from New York forward Pierre Engvall in the final stages of Tuesday's series finale. Expected to be fine, Brind'Amour said it was a maintenance day, just 24 hours after Waddell shared all X-rays were negative.
With the pair of right-handed shots on the sideline, Brady Skjei moved to his third different partner of the postseason for today's practice, working with Dylan Coghlan.
The 2024 American Hockey League All-Star played just one game with the Canes during the regular season but finished tied for the AHL's lead in goals by a defenseman (16).
DeAngelo's absence also allowed 2020 seventh-round pick Ronan Seeley to jump from the Black Aces to the main group, partnering with Scott Morrow on the team's fourth defensive pair.
Between the pipes, Frederik Andersen worked in the same net that he had for all of Round 1. Pyotr Kochetkov remained at the opposite end of the ice.
