The New Jersey Devils find themselves in familiar territory. Just like their first round series against the New York Rangers, they have lost the first two games of the series. And just like the first round, they’ve lost each game in convincing fashion.
New Jersey suffered a big time defeat to Carolina 6-1 and now head home for Game 3 down 2-0 in the series.
Game Summary
First Period
The Devils started the game with much more urgency. Carolina got into penalty trouble early, giving the Devils a five-on-three opportunity . However, the Devils failed to solve the Carolina penalty kill (95% success rate entering tonight).
After the power plays, Carolina went on to smother the Devils’ attack and generate good offensive zone time. The Devils managed to fend them off. As the horn sounded, the teams would head to the second period scoreless. Carolina would carry over power play time into the second period.
At five on five, Carolina led in shot attempts 15-5. In addition, they had a better shot total of 8-1 and overall 10-7.
Second Period
The second period was all Carolina to start. They got started early with a goal on the power play. After great forechecking and play along the boards, a loose puck found Shayne Gostisbehere. He then fired it to a wide open Jesperi Kotkaniemi who sniped a shot high-blocker side to make it 1-0.
The second goal would come shortly after. Just a couple minutes later, Kotkaniemi would score his second. Off a relentless forechecking effort by Jordan Martinook, a loose puck found Kotkaniemi who buried the puck short side.
The bleeding would continue. Towards the end of the period, Jordan Staal got on the board. After chipping the puck in, Staal skated in all alone to slide the puck past Akira Schmid. Then, to make matters worse, with 16-seconds left in the period Martin Necas ripped a wrist shot past Schmid to add cushion to the lead. As the horn sounded, the Devils would find themselves down 4-0.
Carolina dominated the period at five on five once again. In all situation, Shot attempts were closer 29-23, and shots were 16-12 in Carolina’s favor. One area the Hurricanes dominated the Devils was the high danger area. They out-attempted the Devils 11-2 in that area.
Third Period
For the second game in a row, the Devils made a goalie change entering the third period. The switch sparked the team to start. Miles Wood got the Devils on the board to start as he slid the puck past Andersen to cut the deficit to three. However, it was all Carolina the rest of the way.
After a hard-pressed shift by the Devils, Jordan Martinook capitalized on a turnover. Not even a minute later, former Devil Stefan Noesen capitalized on a two on one. Despite a last push, the Devils would fall to Carolina 6-1.
Game Notes
- Frederik Andersen continues to impress. He has now won his last three starts, allowing just one goal in each. Tonight he went on to stop 28 of 29 and finished with a .966 save percentage. In addition, he finished tonight with a 1.16 goals saved above expected.
- New Jersey is simply getting beat at their own game. After dominating the Rangers at five on five in the first round, they have had no answer for Carolina. Carolina, being one of the best five-on-five teams, all year has taken it to the Devils. They out attempted the Devils 53-42, outshot them 31-20, and had more high danger chances (20-13).
What’s Next?
The Two teams travel to New Jersey for Game 3. Game 3 is Sunday May 7 at 3:30 pm ET.