Hurricanes 5, Devils 2: Strong goaltending not enough

Carolina flipped the script on New Jersey in the second leg of the home-and-home.

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By Tyler Cordell (@TylerCordellNHL)

The New Jersey Devils had their three-game winning streak snapped Saturday night in Carolina. Here are a few thoughts on the game:

Allen gave the Devils a chance 

On a night things seemingly weren’t going the Devils way, Jake Allen was able to keep them in it for quite some time.

The Devils weren’t strong throughout the game and Allen made some timely stops to keep New Jersey in it until late.

Allen stopped 16/16 in the 1st period and had some really key saves to keep Carolina off the board.  Allen was strong for much of the 2nd period as well as the Devils still seemed to be struggling to find their game. 

Until Orlov snuck one by Allen on a one-timer late in the 2nd period, he looked unbeatable. 

The wheels seemed to have come off for New Jersey after Timo Meier was thrown out for a questionable hit on Martin Necas early in the 3rd period.

He was assessed a 5-minute major for kneeing which sent the Hurricanes to a lengthy power play.

Jackson Blake tipped home a power play marker, which Allen didn’t have much of a chance on, and the Hurricanes never looked back.

A couple of minutes later off of a weird scramble just inside the Devils zone, the Hurricanes picked the puck up and managed to put together a quick play to set up Jack Roslovic on the rush and that really seemed to stick a dagger in the Devils.

Roslovic would end up sealing the win with one final nail in the coffin on an empty net goal.

While New Jersey wasn’t able to string together their 4th straight win, it was not a bad game for Allen – even though the stats won’t jump out at you.

All you can ask for from your goaltender is a chance to win the game. Allen made 36 saves on 40 shots on goal and kept the Devils in it until late.

The Hughes line played well