The Carolina Hurricanes will be turning to defenseman Tony DeAngelo to fill in for injured blueliner Brett Pesce for Game 3 against the New York Islanders.
Pesce left Game 2 with a lower-body, non-contact injury and Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour stated that he was more than likely done for the rest of the first-round.
So in comes the next-man-up, Tony DeAngelo.
"We're missing one of the best players and a big part of our team, so it's no good there, but hopefully I can come in and try to pick up what he's been doing and try to just do a good job to help the team win," DeAngelo said.
DeAngelo hasn't played much this season, appearing in just 31 games for Carolina, but he has experience with the team and system from his first stint back in the 2021-22 season.
"It's always tough, but it is what it is," DeAngelo said. "There's guys on each team that have to do it and you just have to be ready whenever the time comes. Now, we have a chance where I can come in and help out and hopefully make a difference."
"It's nothing new to him," Brind'Amour said. "He's been here before. We had him for a whole year and he played almost every game. We know what we have in that player. That's why we went and got him. Unfortunately, he didn't get to play much because we were healthy, but this is exactly why you want to have a guy like that around."
The 28-year-old blueliner had just three goals and 11 points this season, but he's coming off back-to-back 40+ point seasons and he had 10 points in 14 games with the Hurricanes back in the 2022 postseason.
"You just have to go out there and play," DeAngelo said. "It's a little bit different, a little bit less risk in each person's game, but for the most part I'm going to go out and play the way I usually do and hopefully get some results.
"Whatever I can do to help is what I'll do."
DeAngelo will be skating alongside Brady Skjei who has been one of Carolina's best defensemen all season and who is also a familiar partner.
"That's my boy," DeAngelo said on Skjei, who was a former teammate with him on the New York Rangers as well. "Anytime we get to play together, I always tell him that I'm going to save the game sheet whenever we play together in case it's our last time. We've been together a long time so looking forward to it. I think it'll be our first time in the playoffs playing together."
When he played this season, Skjei was DeAngelo's most common partner and the pair controlled a 52.3 CF%, a 51.5 xGF% and a 62.5% goal share.
"He makes the pairing good just with his skating and the way he defends and stuff. I just try to take the offensive side of things and get the puck in the o-zone. The way he skates is so big for me because I can feed off of what he's doing and the way he closes guys out and stuff. Similar to [Slavin] when I played with him. They take the defensive responsibilities, moving guys around and then it's easier for me to pick up where they leave off."
While DeAngelo has gotten flack for his defensive shortcomings — some reasonable, some way overblown — he was honestly a much more improved player in his relief stints throughout the season.
In the 10 games he played from February through April, DeAngelo had a 58.17 CF%, 54.9 HDCF% and a 63.64% goal share.
He was much improved and didn't look like the same player from the beginning of the year.
Obviously he's no Brett Pesce, but DeAngelo should still be able to slot in and do his job and hey, perhaps his offensive acumen can be a boost for the Hurricanes.
"Almost the exact opposite [type of defensemen from Brett Pesce], but he's certainly a quality player and we have a lot of faith in him," Brind'Amour said.