Hurricanes 6, Devils 1: Familiar territory

The Devils find themselves in an 0-2 hole for the second series in a row. But this deficit will be harder to erase.

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A few notes following a disappointing Game 2 performance in Carolina:

More of the same

I thought the Devils came out with more urgency and sharpness in this contest. They carried most of the play over the first ~10 minutes, helping them draw a couple PP opportunities along the way.

The Devils were once again unable to get anything out of them – they haven’t netted a power play goal against Carolina all season – and seemed to fall back into the same rut we saw in G1 after that.

The Hurricanes turned their game up a few notches, winning a ton of board battles and throwing their weight around like crazy.

Ryan Graves was wallpapered behind the net, Nico Hischier was getting knocked around every shift, and the Hurricanes really fed off that. They seemed to make every effort play.

I know it’s cliche to blame a loss on ‘battles’ and subjective things you can’t readily access to prove your point but I don’t think anybody will be arguing this one. I mean, the captain said as much in his post-game interview.

“What bothers me the most is that we just got out-battled. It’s the playoffs, we should be really pissed off right now.” - Nico Hischier

Carolina seemed to win the war for way too many loose pucks – even if outmanned – and it freed up space for them to quickly attack once recovered.

Carolina also did a better job of getting to the paint – five of their goals were scored from high-danger locations – and contesting shots. Only 47% of the Devils’ 5v5 attempts made it to the net, which was in line with their G1 number and well below their season average of 53.5%.

We know there is going to be little to no rush play. If the Devils can’t find a way to be more effective playing the smash mouth style the Hurricanes force their opponents into so consistently, this is going to be a short series.

It’s getting out of hand