Game Preview #22: New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes

After a three-game run through the state of Florida, the Devils return to New Jersey to battle the Hurricanes

The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (12-7-2) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (14-4-0)

The Broadcast: MSGSN, FDSNSO, Devils Radio Hockey Network

The Time: 7:00pm ET

Last Devils Game

New Jersey finished up their swing through Florida with a game against the Lightning. It did not go well for the Devils, as they fell 4-0 to Tampa Bay.

Last Hurricanes Game

Carolina was in action just last night in a Metropolitan battle against the Philadelphia Flyers. Carolina scored thrice in the third period to pull away in a 4-1 victory. Sebastian Aho and Jalen Chatfield led the way with a goal and an assist each.

Last Devils-Hurricanes Game

It happened on October 15th, and it was a frustrating 4-2 loss down in Raleigh. Jacob Markstrom played very well to keep his team in it for most of the game, but the patented Carolina forecheck overwhelmed the Devils in the defeat.

News and Notes From The “Bye Week”

Ok it wasn’t exactly a bye week since it was only four days. But aside from their layoff between the second game in Prague and their home opener, this past stretch since the game against Tampa Bay on Saturday marked the longest the Devils have gone without a game this season. New Jersey has played 21 games thus far, tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks for most in the league. It will all even out at 82 in the end, but New Jersey got some much needed time away from game action this week.

So how did they spend that time? Let’s catch up a bit.

First off, some injury and recall updates:

Let’s start with the IR/LTIR moves. I am far from an expert on the NHL’s salary cap, so I could be totally off with this, but it’s my understanding that a team accumulates salary cap space each day as the season goes on. However, that’s under the condition that no players are on Long Term Injured Reserve. If a team does place a player on LTIR, the cap space accumulation halts until everyone is off LTIR. So with Bastian moved there now, the Devils will stop accruing cap space for the time being.

Again, I have a very rudimentary understanding of how that part of the salary cap works, but that is my “in a nutshell” understanding of how this situation functions. If anyone has any additional or more accurate info on this, please let me know in the comments.

Assuming this is right, I would have imagined this meant Bastian is at least somewhat close to returning since general manager Tom Fitzgerald probably wants to start accruing cap space again soon. But then I saw this from Amanda Stein:

So there goes that theory of mine. But then the fact that Bastian actually returned to practice on Tuesday was nice:

We’ll get to Meier momentarily, but for now I don’t know what to believe with Bastian. I suppose I’ll take Keefe at his word that he’s not close, but it’s nice to see him return to practice at least, even if it’s only in a limited capacity. Curtis Lazar, however, is perhaps even further away, and so his return to the fourth line will have to wait (more on that unit soon as well).

Ok now to Meier. Him and Brett Pesce missed practice on Tuesday:

A maintenance day for Pesce doesn’t worry me, but back spasms for Meier does. Keefe stated that Pesce and Meier are “day-to-day”, and that he also thinks the four-day break from games was very helpful for some players who are a little banged up right now. There was good news though, as while Meier was out on Tuesday, he did practice on Wednesday:

That’s obviously a good sign, though I hope the back spasms don’t return for Meier. One of the big storylines of the 2023-24 season was Meier’s disappointing play. We all knew he was playing hurt through most of the season, and in fact he underwent elective arthroscopic shoulder surgery as soon as the season ended last spring. This was in addition to the back and oblique issues he dealt with throughout the year. Meier is a hugely important part of this Devils team. After a disappointing, injury-riddled campaign, he has been mostly good thus far. Here’s hoping more injuries don’t slow him down.

Now to the fourth line. That unit has been a point of contention for Devils fans following the injuries to Lazar and Bastian. Chris wrote about them on Monday, check out his article if you want a more in-depth look on this subject. With Lazar out long term and Bastian seemingly closer but not all that close, that leaves Tomas Tatar, Justin Dowling, Kurtis MacDermid, plus the recent callups of Nolan Foote and Shane Bowers, as options for the fourth line.

So how might we see Keefe assemble that unit? Well here’s how it looked in practice yesterday:

So for now, the answer appears to be to return MacDermid to his defenseman roots and scratch him, have Dowling and Tatar maintain their spots on the line, and have Bowers and Foote battle it out for the 12th forward spot. For me personally, I honestly can’t tell you I feel strongly one way or another about all this. I do think the fourth line was in need of a shakeup, but I’m not in love with any of the options. Inserting Bowers or Foote for MacDermid seems worth a shot at least. And if that doesn’t work out it’s not like there aren’t more options Keefe can try.

And those are all the major beats from the four-day break! Let’s hope the Devils come out of this layoff fresh and ready to roll.

Raising Canes

Carolina lost a healthy amount of talent over the offseason. The lost their entire second pair of Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce to the Predators and, of course, the Devils. They lost longtime top-6 staple Teuvo Teravainen to the Blackhawks. They lost bottom-6 grinder Stefan Noesen to, again, the Devils. They lost big time trade deadline acquisition Jake Guentzel to the Lightning.

They lost so much talent in the offseason. And it hasn’t mattered one bit. Carolina is still atop the Metropolitan Division.

They won eight straight games from October 22nd to November 7th. Their .778 points% ranks first in the Eastern Conference and second in the entire league behind only the Winnipeg Jets. At this point I’m convinced that Rod Brind’Amour could plug me, Bill Spaulding, and a half-eaten macaroon onto the third line and we’d give him a 60% Corsi. Carolina is a machine, and they don’t seem like they’re slowing down anytime soon.

Do the Hurricanes have any notable weakness? Not really. Entering the night, Carolina is third in the NHL in goals per game with an even 4.0 rate. They’re also tied for fewest goals allowed per game in the league (with Dallas and Minnesota) at 2.33 per game. Given those two stats, it probably won’t surprise you that they’re second in the league (behind only Winnipeg) with a goal differential of +30.

Want advanced stats? How’s this: According to Natural Stat Trick, at 5-on-5 the Hurricanes lead the entire NHL in Corsi For% (60.76%), Scoring Chances For% (61.12%), High Danger Corsi For% (59.13%), and Expected Goals For% (59.91%). It literally does not get any better than that. Even looking at each individual player, none of them are sporting numbers below 50% in any of those categories, which is utterly hilarious.

Carolina has been beaten four times this season, they are not entirely inevitable. But they will be a tough test for the Devils tonight, a test that New Jersey already failed once this season. We can only hope the Devils give us a more competitive effort against the Hurricanes this time around.

Projected Lineup

Here is how the Hurricanes lined up against the Flyers last night:

With Pyotr Kochetkov getting the start last night, expect to see Spencer Martin tonight.

Your Take

What do you make of tonight’s game? What piece of news from the mini-bye intrigued you the most? Who on the Hurricanes will you be watching closest tonight? As always, thanks for reading!