The New Jersey Devils lost 4-2 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night in Raleigh. The Devils were a step behind all night and struggled to get any sustained offensive zone pressure. With the loss, the Devils fell to 4-2-0, while the Hurricanes picked up their first win of the season, improving to 1-1-0.
Game Recap
Period One
Carolina had the early jump in the game, and Jacob Markstrom made some strong saves to keep the score at zero through the first ten minutes.
The Devils got a few chances toward the end of the period, but they couldn’t beat the netminder, Pyotr Kochetkov.
The 8-8 shot count in the first was deceptive as New Jersey survived Carolina’s extended pressure to keep the score at 0-0.
Period Two
The Devils opened the scoring at 1:16 with Jack Hughes’ first goal of the season off the rush. Jesper Bratt and Johnathan Kovacevic tallied the assists.
The Hurricanes responded with a few strong shifts, but Markstrom came up huge to preserve the one-goal lead.
After extended pressure from Carolina, Seth Jarvis tied the game at 10:55 with his first goal of the season. Andrei Svechnikov added the lone assist.
The Devils got a power play opportunity after Svechnikov laid a late, high hit on Timo Meier, but they couldn’t retake the lead.
With under a minute remaining in the period, Carolina grabbed their first lead of the game with a goal from Shayne Gostisbehere. The Devils lost a battle along the boards, and the puck found Gostisbehere open in the slot. Martin Necas and Jesperi Kotkaniemi had the assists.
New Jersey was outshot 13-7 in the period.
Period Three
The Devils’ struggles continued in the third, and the Hurricanes eventually extended their lead at 10:16 with a redirection by Jackson Blake off a Dmitry Orlov shot. That was Blake’s first career NHL goal.
After two minor penalties on Carolina, the Devils converted during a two-man advantage to cut the lead to one. Nico Hischier buried the puck up high from a sharp angle at 15:16 with assists from Hughes and Bratt.
The Devils mounted some good pressure with their goalie pulled, but Carolina hit the empty net at 18:24 with Sebastian Aho’s first goal of the season. Jacob Slavin and Jordan Martinook added assists.
New Jersey was outshot 31-26 in the loss.
Takeaways
Offensive Disconnect
Right from puck drop, the Devils appeared sluggish and disjointed in the second half of a back-to-back series against a well-rested Hurricanes team. Their passes weren’t crisp, and they struggled to win battles along the boards.
That was particularly evident in the bottom six forward group, which had been so strong for New Jersey in previous games. The Cotter-Haula-Noesen line was on the ice for two goals against and wasn’t able to contribute at the other end. They also allowed almost twice as many shot attempts as they generated.
Additionally, the Palat-Lazar-Bastian line struggled all night, not registering a shot on goal and allowing six by Carolina.
Goaltending Optics
Jacob Markstrom saved 27 of 31 shots for a .900 SV%, which isn’t a bad number but certainly isn’t stellar. However, his performance was much stronger than the numbers indicate. He faced intense pressure all night and had to make numerous high-danger saves to keep the Devils in the game. Unfortunately for New Jersey, the offense couldn’t generate enough to reward his performance.
Jack is Back
Some good news for the Devils is that Jack Hughes looks more and more like himself with each passing game. Coming off season-ending surgery, Hughes’ puck control was noticeably not up to his usual standard in the first few games of the year, but he looked much better against Carolina, and it was reflected on the score sheet with his first goal of the season, plus an assist.
Up Next
The Devils head north of the border to take on the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
The Senators sit fourth in the Atlantic Division with a 2-1-0 record. Most recently, they defeated the Los Angeles Kings 8-7 in overtime in a Monday night barnburner.
Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. on MSG.
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