5 Most Heartbreaking and Disappointing New Jersey Devils Losses Ever
3. April 28, 2009 Game 7 vs Carolina Hurricanes
In any playoff series in any sport, both teams have to fight to not only stay alive, but to show future opponents they could face a great challenge leading to a stunning upset. Giving your opponent any chance can cost you the entire season, and that’s what happened to the 2009 New Jersey Devils. The 2009 New Jersey Devils gave us some of the best moments like Martin Brodeur beating out Patrick Roy to become the winningest goaltender in NHL History. Devils also won the Atlantic Division that year, giving them a three-seed when the playoffs started.
The Devils faced the Carolina Hurricanes who were the six seed that year. The Devils won Game 1 by the score of 4-1, but lost Game 2 in overtime, to split both games at home, and vice versa in Carolina. Devils won Game 3 in overtime thanks to Travis Zajac, but lost Game 4 which in a controversial manner, with a goal that beat the buzzer. Martin Brodeur was bumped into by Jussi Jokinen, which should have been a goalie interference penalty. Game 5 did go right for the Devils as David Clarkson led them to victory. Game 6 though back in Carolina had the Hurricanes scoring four goals, two of them being by Eric Staal. Now we come to Game 7, both teams have gone through so much and both teams attempt to move on to the next round.
As Game 7 began, the Hurricanes tried looking for early momentum, and thanks to Tuomo Ruutu, the Hurricanes got on the board first. For the Hurricanes, it didn’t take long for the Devils to strike back. Jamie Langenbrunner scored 1:29 later to tie the game at 1. For the Devils to win this game, they needed to capitalize and play harder than the Hurricanes did, and Jay Pandolfo did just that. Pandolfo received a pass from John Madden and buried it on a backhand to put the Devils up top 2-1.
Ray Whitney eventually tied the game at 2, Then, the Hurricanes made the crucial Game 7 mistake when Matt Cullen took a penalty for slashing. Because of that, the Devils took advantage of it and took a 3-2 lead when Brian Rolston scored on the power play. Unfortunately, this would be the last time the Devils and their fans celebrated a goal because it would be the Devils’ turn to make a mistake. This mistake involved them not scoring another goal, because as anyone learns in any sports series, don’t let your opponent stick around. The Hurricanes were about to perform one of the biggest moments in their franchise history.
With 1:20 left to go in the game, Jussi Jokinen made it a tie game 3-3. Now the Devils could have forced OT, but the Hurricanes wanted to crush the hearts of every Devils fan in the world. Eric Staal scored just 48 seconds later. Staal put a wrist shot that beat Brodeur to give Hurricanes a 4-3 lead with under 31.7 seconds to go.
The Hurricanes won the game and got to the Eastern Conference Finals before being eliminated. This loss was such a big heartbreak for the Devils, by not scoring another goal, and letting your opponent score two goals on you late in a Game 7. Lessons from any team in any playoff scenario, don’t let this happen to you. Keep playing until the clock reaches zero and win.