The Devils, as has been the case for many seasons in a row now, could not handle the Hurricanes’ forecheck in a decisive loss
The sun rises in the east every morning. The Harlem Globetrotters defeat the Washington Generals. Police investigate a crime in any given Law & Order episode. Death, taxes…
…and the New Jersey Devils not being prepared for the Rod Brind’Amour forecheck in a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Carolina lost a ton of talent over the summer. The Devils were arguably the biggest beneficiaries of that exodus with both Stefan Noesen and Brett Pesce deciding to sign with New Jersey in free agency. Brady Skjei left, Teuvo Teravainen left, trade deadline pickup Jake Guentzel left, and a handful of other top contributors left.
And none of that matters at all, not with how Carolina plays. The Hurricanes have played the exact same way since Brind’Amour was hired before the 2018-19 season. They have a very specific forechecking style, a “Rely entirely on puck luck” system in the offensive zone, and it makes no difference what their personnel looks like. They will not change the way they play one bit.
And the New Jersey Devils, after all these seasons, are still never prepared to play against this style.
To be fair to New Jersey, the Hurricanes have been one of the best teams in the league since Brind’Amour took over, so it’s not like a lot of other teams have figured them out. But the Devils see them more than most of the league as a result of their shared Metropolitan Division placement. Therefore you would figure New Jersey would maybe, just maybe, learn how to handle what Carolina does.
And yet they never seem to learn.
Carolina suffocated New Jersey tonight. The MSG broadcast talked multiple times through the early part of the game about how much more offensive zone time the Hurricanes recorded than the Devils. They eventually seemed to give up on that, perhaps because it was getting so lopsided. The only Devil I can definitively say played a good game tonight was Jacob Markstrom. Time after time, Markstrom lived up to his reputation of being great against high danger chances. He stopped breakaways, one-timers from the slot, redirections, loose puck chances, and just about everything else the Hurricanes threw at him. He wasn’t perfect, as his 27 saves on 30 shots statline would tell you. But he put on a cape for his skaters tonight, and his skaters failed him.
The only other Devil I can say probably played a good game was Jack Hughes. He scored his first goal of the season, which was actually the first goal of the game, and it was a patented Hughes rush goal:
Oh, Jack is back. pic.twitter.com/SBZZAQ0TxT
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 16, 2024
Lovely stuff. But sadly chances like those were few and far between tonight.
After the Hughes goal, three straight Carolina tallies buried the Devils. Nico Hischier scored on a 5-on-3 with the Devils down by two late in the third period, but that was as close as they would get. New Jersey couldn’t muster the late push to tie the game, and Sebastian Aho scored an empty-netter to put the game out of reach.
But really, the game was out of reach all night long. The Devils could not get anything going against the Brind’Amour forecheck, just like every other time they see it. The faces change, the forecheck and the “fire from every angle and hope for a lucky bounce” offensive system remain. Carolina plays exactly the same, game in and game out. Nothing changes.
Including how unprepared the Devils are for it every single time.
The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats
The Game Highlights: Courtesy of NHL.com
Frustration
Apologies if I seem frustrated tonight, but it really is baffling to me how the Devils still have not figured Carolina’s systems out after all these years. New Jersey clearly has more talent than Carolina, and that has been the case for the past few seasons now. And yet, each game against the Hurricanes looks like the very first time the Devils have seen these tactics. I simply don’t get it.
As I said earlier, Carolina has been a terrific team since Brind’Amour was named head coach, so clearly it’s a tough system to crack even after seeing it many times. That being said, the Hurricanes always seems to bow out of the playoffs meekly every year. They might win a round or two against lesser competition, but whenever they play the top teams of the league, like the Rangers last year or the Panthers before that, they usually get their doors blown off.
The Devils have ambitions of being a top team in this league. They certainly have the talent to be one. But if they can’t even figure out how to be the best team in their own division, how can they expect to find success at a league-wide level? With the playoff format the way it is, New Jersey will almost certainly have to go through Carolina in a seven game series at some point. They failed miserably at this in 2022-23. They didn’t even get a chance last season. Now in 2024-25, it’s time to finally learn how to handle Carolina’s forecheck. Their status as a Stanley Cup contender may very well depend on it.
Finding Their Groove?
By far the most dangerous line of the night was the Timo Meier-Jack Hughes- Jesper Bratt line. According to Natural Stat Trick, that trio combined for a 5-on-5 Expected Goals For% of 59.68% in 10:28 of ice time. Anecdotally, the only time I ever felt the Devils were even remotely close to threatening was when that line hopped over the boards.
Much had been made before the season began about the lack of chemistry between Hughes and Meier. Indeed their time together since Meier came over at the 2023 trade deadline was choppy to say the least. But early on in 2024-25, that line is starting to click. All three players have been finding their way onto the scoresheet with consistency, and now they’re starting to win the territorial battle as well.
Tonight was a night to forget. But on a lost night, we saw another promising outing from the Hughes line. If there is a positive to take away from this game (other than Markstrom’s performance), it’s what we saw from Hughes and pals.
Hello Darkness, My Old Friend
One of the main characters in the story of misery that was the 2023-24 season was the Devils’ ineptitude in the second half of back-to-backs. New Jersey played 16 back-to-backs last season, which meant a possible 32 points to be had in those second half situations. The Devils went 3-11-2 in the second half of back-to-backs, good for a paltry 8 out of those 32 possible points.
They actually got off on the right foot in that regard with the unique back-to-back they played in the Global Series to begin the season, winning 3-1 against the Buffalo Sabres. Tonight was their second back-to-back and the first under what you might call normal conditions, and we had to once again witness a frustrating loss.
It’s hard for me to believe that the Devils will be as shockingly bad in back-to-back situations this season than they were a season ago. Regression to the mean seems inevitable to me, and even if New Jersey doesn’t become a powerhouse in the second half of back-to-backs, I expect significantly improved results. But tonight was a reminder of how much back-to-backs have haunted the Devils since the start of last season.
And by the way, in case you’re morbidly curious, the Devils’ next back-to-back takes place on October 24th and 25th. They play against the Red Wings in Detroit on the 24th before returning to The Rock for a game against the Islanders. Prepare accordingly.
Next Time Out
The Devils are back in action on Thursday when they travel up to Ottawa to take on the Senators. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00pm.
Your Take
Are you as sick and tired of watching the Devils wilt against the Hurricanes forecheck as I am? What positives, if any, do you take out of tonight’s game? What will you be watching for next time out? As always, thanks for reading.