Report: Hurricanes’ Brett Pesce likely to miss remainder of Round 1 with lower-body injury

It looks like one of the high-end defensemen on the Carolina Hurricanes roster might be out for an extended period of time.

On Wednesday, Luke DeCock of the News & Observer reported that Brett Pesce might miss the remainder of the Hurricanes’ opening-round series against the New York Islanders with a lower-body injury.

Pesce suffered a non-contact injury while transitioning up the ice during Carolina’s 5-3 win on Monday night. Per DeCock, the timeframe for Pesce’s return is unclear, but the 29-year-old might be out for a couple of weeks.

Pesce was a minus-one, in 8:47 of ice time, taking a holding the stick penalty late in the first period. He played a key role in the Canes’ 3-1 win over the Isles in the series opener on Saturday, picking up an assist and a plus-two rating in 19:49 of ice time.

It was reported on Tuesday that Canes’ head coach Rod Brind’Amour said veteran defenseman Tony DeAngelo will replace Pesce in the lineup for the third game of the series on Thursday.

Pesce had missed a game late in the regular season, as he was out for Carolina’s contest against the St. Louis Blues on April 12 due to an undisclosed ailment. The Tarrytown, New York native missed almost an entire month after a lower-body injury in mid-October required surgery.

The 2013 third-round pick played in 70 games during the regular season, scoring three goals and 13 points, with a plus-10 rating and averaging over 20 minutes of ice time. This was a significant drop from posting a career-high 30 points during the 2022-23 season, when Pesce played the full 82 games.

In 627 career games, Pesce has scored 39 goals and 159 assists, all with the Hurricanes. He has also registered five goals and 21 points in 57 playoff appearances.

Game 3 is set to take place at UBS Arena, the first Stanley Cup Playoff game to be held in the building, which opened in 2021.