Sunday, the New Jersey Devils lost Game 1 of their first round matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1. The team allowed two goals in the second period and despite a push in the third could not form a comeback. They trail the best-of-seven series 1-0.
Recap
Period One
The first period was dominated by Carolina. They kicked things off with a wrister from the point from Jalen Chatfield that found its way through to make it 1-0. That goal came less than three minutes in.
The Devils were on the back foot for most of the period onwards. Carolina had two power plays where they piled on chances, but Jacob Markstrom stood tall. Carolina somehow only led 1-0 after one period.
Period Two
The Hurricanes came out even more furious in the second period and eventually their push resulted in another goal. A bad turnover put the puck right on the stick of Logan Stankoven who made it 2-0. Later in the period, the Hurricanes would go on their third power play where Stankoven would snipe a wrister to make it 3-0. Markstrom made his fair share of great stops, but it wasn’t enough to stop the barrage Carolina sent his way.
The Devils would find some life at the end of the period with a Nico Hischier goal to make it 3-1. That would be the score after two as Carolina would look to close out game one.
Period Three
The Devils came out with some pace in the third period, grabbing some great chances here and there. Frederik Andersen stood tall to the task, however, and stopped everything that came his way including an amazing stick save on Timo Meier right in front.
With the goalie pulled Jesper Bratt turned the puck over at the blue line and the Canes would end it. They took game one 4-1 as the Devils will look to answer Tuesday night.
Game Notes
Injury Updates
The Devils suffered a handful of injuries in Sunday afternoon’s game. First, it was Brendan Dillon who went down awkwardly and didn’t return. Head coach Sheldon Keefe stated that Dillon was eager to get back on the ice but was held out of the game for precautionary reasons.
The other two scares came just seconds apart as Luke Hughes went flying into the goal and left the game holding his shoulder. Hughes returned in the final minutes. In the chaos following the Hughes, injury Markstrom accidentally whacked Cody Glass with his stick in the mid-section. Glass did not return and there was no update on him following the game.
The Positives
The two positive takeaways from this game came in net and in the third period. First, the Devils played an excellent third frame at five-on-five despite failing to score. They held a 67.57 corsi-for percentage (CF%) and 73.58 expected goals percentage (xG%). The reshuffled top six especially played well. The new top line of Meier, Hischier, and Ondrej Palat held a 95.63 xG% in 2:15 of ice time. The new second line of Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer, and Eric Haula had a 95.51 xG% 3:54 of ice time.
The other positive was Jacob Markstrom’s play. While he did allow three goals, and the first one wasn’t ideal to let in, he still made some amazing stops to keep New Jersey in the game. Markstrom held a .932 save percentage (sv%) and stopped over one goal above expected. If Markstrom can play that way and the Devils can play the rest of this series closer to how they did in the third period it could be a tight one.
What’s Next
The Devils, down 1-0 in the series, will get a chance to even things up on Tuesday at 6:00 pm ET once again in Raleigh. It’s the last game before the teams head to Newark.