The Devils took care of business against the third place Carolina Hurricanes, expanding their point gap to eight before their rematch tomorrow night in Raleigh.
First Period
The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes traded offensive possessions in the first four minutes of the opening frame, with Jack Hughes leading the way for the Devils on both of their better shifts. Jacob Markstrom was locked in early, though, eventually making a huge stop on Jesperi Kotkaniemi about five minutes in when Kotkaniemi had the puck on his backhand at the edge of the crease. Markstrom shut the shot down, giving the Devils a chance to get their legs going.
Jacob Markstrom finally gave up a goal, breaking a shutout streak over two games, when Eric Robinson dug a puck out of his equipment off a long shot to get the first goal of the game for the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Devils would not be held down, though, continuing to push with an aggressive offensive push. Luck finally came their way when Johnny Kovacevic set up in the middle of the blueline and shot low through a screen, leading to an Ondrej Palat deflection goal! The Devils tied the game with less than four minutes to play in the period.
Then a former Cane struck. Stefan Noesen took a lengthy stretch pass from Luke Hughes right into a two-on-one. Noesen sauced it to his left, and Nico Hischier beat Kochetkov high! The Devils took a 2-1 lead! That was Nico Hischier’s 18th goal of the year. Then, Ondrej Palat pushed right ahead off the draw, taking two Canes to the net as he tried to break right away from center ice. He was denied, but he was visibly buzzing early for New Jersey.
Dougie Hamilton was called for the first penalty of the game when he was called for interference as he was trying to reach for the puck. Given that Carolina had gotten away with early holds and hooks, this was weak. Dawson Mercer got the puck ahead on the penalty kill, and he combined with Jesper Bratt for a scoring chance, with Bratt’s shot saved by Kochetkov. Bratt later cleared at the end of the first minute to end his shift, bringing Hughes and Haula onto the ice. Pesce denied an entry there and cleared the puck, before helping to end the period by pushing a loose puck for Hughes to clear.
Second Period
Nico won the draw for the Devils to start the second period, giving them a chance to clear the puck. But Johnny Kovacevic saw a stretch pass get to Jack Roslovic, averting a breakaway, though he was unable to prevent the ensuing possession for Carolina. Brent Burns took advantage of a scrambling Devils team to tie the game with a shot from the slot just as Dougie Hamilton was coming back onto the ice.
The Devils did not want to let Carolina back into the game. The top six had an extended possession in the offensive zone, after Dougie Hamilton showed off his skates, ducking hits and deking through the neutral zone before changing off for Brett Pesce once Nico Hischier followed him in. The Hughes line changed on to continue the possession, and Luke Hughes scored off the cycle when a Pesce shot deflected right to him, giving the Devils a 3-2 lead!
The Devils were not done breaking down the Carolina defense. Jack Hughes had the puck on the wall after Paul Cotter took the puck around the net and passed up high to Brenden Dillon, and Hughes shot low on Kochetkov. Dawson Mercer was right there to pop the puck up into the net to make it 4-2!
After the Devils went up two goals, Jacob Markstrom made an incredible save as he came across to deny a Jack Roslovic one-timer! The Devils continued to control most of play after settling down again, with the top six having a couple more offensive zone shifts as the period turned past the halfway point. Markstrom did have to make a breakaway zave on Sean Walker, who had a couple fortunate bounces to get behind the Devils’ defense before being denied by the pad of Markstrom.
Nico Hischier had a chance all alone in front with his back turned to Kochetkov, and he tried to spin the puck around Kochetkov to score, and the puck seemed to clearly cross the line before the referee blew play dead. Stefan Noesen came digging into Kochetkov at the loose puck, ensuring it did cross the line, but the whistle blew afterwards. After a review, the referees decided there was no goal on the ice.
Brett Pesce and Tyson Jost went at it after a whistle when Jacob Markstrom covered the puck, and Pesce got an extra minor to gift Carolina a power play after a goal was taken off the board for New Jersey. The Devils fared well on the penalty kill until Brent Burns got open for a one-timer, but he missed the net. Carolina, however, had a few chances after that one. As the period was expiring, and Jesper Bratt was clearing the puck, he kept taking slashes and cross-checks, but Kelly Sutherland decided to turn a blind eye again.
Third Period
Jacob Markstrom made several stops in the first five minutes or so of the final period of regualtion, as Carolina came hard trying to pull within one goal. The Devils played a bit more patiently in this period, but they took their opportunities when they came. Dougie Hamilton again split through the neutral zone, this time firing on goal and trying to get his own rebound — but Kochetkov made the stops.
As time went on, the Devils shut down the middle and played a hard physical game against Carolina. Shots were hard to come by, and it was difficult for Carolina to get Kochetkov onto the bench — though he finally went off with under three minutes to play. Carolina lost the zone, and the Devils disrupted their re-entry for a bit before relenting with 2:30 to play. Brent Burns hit the iron, but Nico Hischier fought to get the puck out to give Jack Hughes a chance to come on to work for the empty net. The Hughes line was denied by a desperate Hurricane effort.
Dawson Mercer flipped the puck down the ice with a good enough touch to avoid a whistle with under a minute to play, killing much of the remaining time as Carolina was pinballed back and forth by the Devils. Nathan Bastian was hooked at as he shot on the empty goal from center ice, but no call was made to award him the goal, and Noesen was unable to race to the loose puck in time. The Devils kept the Hurricanes at bay for almost nine minutes of play without a whistle, securing their 4-2 win.
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
Uphill Battle? No Problem.
The New Jersey Devils did not get a single power play tonight, and if you have ever watched the Carolina Hurricanes play hockey, you probably already know why that’s ridiculous. Carolina’s best defense against the speed of the Devils were hooks to the midsection, but only the Canes came away with power plays on a weak interference call on Hamilton and a double minor call amid a scrum on Pesce. While the goal was an even strength one, Brent Burns did score as a result of that Hamilton penalty, as the Devils did not really get a chance to change after the two minutes expired. Officially, their penalty kill was two for two.
The Devils still won this game at even strength, though. They probably should have won 5-2, with a goal wiped off the board that should have gone to Stefan Noesen, from Nico Hischier, but they still won the game. They were disciplined, level-headed, and did not abandon their structure in the third period. Carolina did try to press in the third period, but the Devils collapsed and did not expend a lot of energy. This should play into their favor tomorrow night, when Carolina will have to contend with having played the third period pretty hard when they are defending their home ice against the Devils.
Luke Leading the Way
Luke Hughes and Brent Burns were the only players to collect two points tonight, and of course this happened on the same day that I mentioned Burns’ uncharacteristically low offensive production in the game preview. The great veteran was solid for Carolina, and his shot was still pretty threatening, but Luke Hughes had the two-way advantage. Luke could take the puck up the ice, shoot or try to create a chance for someone else, get back to the blueline to prevent a counterattack, and then get all the way back to take a pass in his own end from Brett Pesce so he could start the breakout again. With that speed, opponents have so little puck possession time with Luke on the ice — and the Devils did not allow a goal with that pairing on the ice tonight.
Markstrom Playing Like a Star
The defense from Hughes and Pesce was not the only reason the Canes were kept to two goals. Jacob Markstrom stopped 29 of 31, saving exactly one goal above expected, according to Natural Stat Trick. Over his last 10 games, Markstrom is 9-0-1 with 14 goals allowed and a .933 save percentage. It might have taken him a little while to get going for the team, but the Devils are now getting his A-game, and it’s currently hard to see the team slowing down as long as Markstrom is moving as well as he was tonight. The team will need to be better in front of Jake Allen tomorrow, but Markstrom gave them the opportunity to be a little off tonight in the defensive end.
Bury Them
Now up eight points on Carolina, the Devils have a chance to make the Metropolitan Division a two-horse race between them and Washington by winning tomorrow night in regulation. Winning both ends of a home-and-home is difficult, but the Devils are hunting for that elusive four-game winning streak, and Carolina has been just 11-11-1 over their last 23 games. Without Pesce, Skjei, Noesen, and Teravainen on the team, these are just not the same Canes that stymied the Devils in the second round in May 2023.
Your Thoughts
What did you think of tonight’s game? Are you thrilled with the result? How do you feel about the current run for Markstrom? Do you think Nico Hischier will get to 40 goals this season? How have you felt about his line with Noesen? Who caught your eye most tonight? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.