The hill just got steeper for the New Jersey Devils ahead of Game 2 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Veteran defenseman Brenden Dillon and youngster Luke Hughes are unavailable for New Jersey on Tuesday night.
Both sustained injuries in their team's 4-1 Game 1 loss.
Dillon left the game with an injury in the second period after colliding with an opposing player and falling awkwardly to the ice. The veteran did not return. After the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters in Raleigh that his veteran defenseman was eager to get back out there, but the team doctors held him off the ice for precautionary reasons.
Midway through the third period, Hughes collided with Jesper Kotkaniemi and slid into Markstrom's net. In visible pain, he was holding his arm as he skated off. He returned to the ice in the final few minutes of the third period and finished the game with the third-most ice time (22:20).
"They are both going to be out tonight," Keefe told NJD.TV. "We will have to get back to New Jersey after today and see where they are at. They will be out tonight, so (Dennis) Cholowski and (Simon) Nemec will come in for them."
At the team's morning skate, the coaching staff used the following defensive pairs: Brett Pesce and Dougie Hamilton, Brian Dumoulin and Johnathan Kovacevic, and Cholowski and Nemec.
"There are big holes (on the blue line)," Kovacevic said to NJD.TV. "Those are big guys to miss. We have to have that next man up mentality, come in, have that extra edge, and do it for them."
Game 2 will be at the Lenovo Center in North Carolina on Tuesday night.
Fans can watch on MSGSN and ESPN or listen on the Devils Hockey Network.
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