The New Jersey Devils were poorly received in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in a 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of their series. The Devils rebounded from a bad start against the New York Rangers in the first round, but the competition promises to be much tougher this time around.
The Hurricanes enter Game 2 on Friday night as the narrow favorite to take a 2-0 series lead, while the game’s plus/minus is set at 5.5 goals.
Let’s come to the pickaxes.
During the Stanley Cup playoffs, AthleticismThe writers will make their direct choices. Here you’ll find picks, coverage and the latest odds. Our in-depth NHL coverage is linked under the picks.
All BetMGM odds and live updates.
Game 2 – Devils at Hurricanes
Carolina leads 1-0
8 p.m. on TNT, SN
Carolina’s big story this season has been his depth. The Hurricanes have won five of their first seven playoff games, averaging more than three goals per game, despite missing Andrei Svechnikov, Teuvo Teravainen and Max Pacioretty. The Hurricanes had 11 playoff scorers and received surprising performances from veterans Paul Stastny and Jesper Fast. This duo has already accumulated six goals between them.
Both teams have been excellent defensively this playoff, entering Friday’s game first and second in the league in shot limitation against, while the Hurricanes allowed the fewest goals at just 2.29 per game. .
The Devils are allowing 2.75 per game, but have been very hit and miss on a game-by-game basis. They’ve allowed exactly five goals in four of their first eight games, while allowing none or one in the other four games. It was either a complete collapse defensively and in front of goal, or complete dominance.
New Jersey benched new starting goaltender Akira Schmid early in Game 1 of the series, but head coach Lindy Ruff made it clear that it wasn’t because of Schmid’s play. He didn’t commit to his match 2 starter (which is common for him) but seemed to rule out going back to Vitek Vanecek as a starter. Even with his tough opener, Schmidt still has a .935 save percentage going into the playoffs, after going .922 in 18 regular-season games.
The Devils overcame back-to-back 5-1 (home) first-round defeats to Rangers, so a tough loss on the road probably won’t crush their confidence too much.
New Jersey stars Jack Hughes (-3) and Nico Hischier (-2) had particularly tough performances in Game 1 of the series, combining for just three shots on goal. They should be better in Game 2. The Devils will definitely need them if they want to even the series before it returns to Newark.
(Photo: Katherine Gawlik/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
