The Carolina Hurricanes have enjoyed three nights off since their back-to-back, one-goal victories earlier this week.
They certainly needed the time to regroup.
Dealing with injuries on the defensive side, the Hurricanes are back in action when the suddenly high-scoring Columbus Blue Jackets visit for a Friday night game in Raleigh, N.C.
There will be some new pairings for Carolina along the blue line.
"Guys play with different pairs all the time," coach Rod Brind'Amour said.
Brind'Amour revealed Thursday that defensemen Tony DeAngelo and Brendan Smith, who also missed Monday's game, are out. DeAngelo's upper-body injury is expected to keep him sidelined for about a month.
DeAngelo has added another element on offense, particularly on power plays, in his first season with Carolina.
"It's a big blow because he's a big part of what's going on," Brind'Amour said.
DeAngelo is tied for third on the team with 40 points.
"We're going to miss him a lot," center Vincent Trocheck said. "We've got quality depth on 'D.' I think we have one of the deeper 'D' corps in the league. As always, whenever somebody goes down, guys are going to have to step up and take on a little different role, extra role, extra minutes."
Defenseman Jalen Chatfield was summoned from the minor leagues to fill in. He was with the Hurricanes earlier in the season for seven games.
"Confidence is something you always want to have," Chatfield said. "The harder part is just coming here and getting into a different schedule."
The Blue Jackets should be plenty confident, as they have a four-game winning streak after defeating the host Florida Panthers 6-3 on Thursday.
"We need to ride it out as long as we can," said Columbus right winger Jakub Voracek, who recorded two assists at Florida. "We need those points to make up the ground."
Even prior to Thursday, the Blue Jackets had been on a scoring surge. Their 46 goals across 10 games marked a franchise record for a 10-game span.
With the strong offense, the defense has dipped for Columbus. The Blue Jackets have yielded three or more goals in five consecutive games.
Gabriel Carlsson replaced All-Star defenseman Zach Werenski in the Columbus lineup Thursday night. Werenski isn't on the trip because of an upper-body injury.
Alexandre Texier, Eric Robinson and Jake Bean (a former Hurricane) have been out for several weeks as Columbus deals with injuries.
"It's not unique to our team," Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. "It's happening throughout the whole league."
The contests at Florida and Carolina come in the middle of a home-heavy stretch for the Blue Jackets. They played their previous two at home and after Friday will have their next five at home.
This will be the fourth and final regular-season meeting between the teams. Carolina has won two of the three matchups, including a Jan. 1 comeback from a four-goal deficit for a 7-4 win. However, Columbus won the most-recent clash, 6-0 on Jan. 13 in Raleigh, a game that featured a rare rough outing for Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen, who is 27-7-2 this season.
Carolina center Sebastian Aho, who is riding a four-game points streak, has 11 career goals in 26 games against the Blue Jackets. That is his highest goal total against any opponent.
--Field Level Media