New Jersey Devils Season Over After Overtime Loss To Carolina Hurricanes
The New Jersey Devils’ season is officially over after the Carolina Hurricanes scored a power-play goal in overtime on Thursday night. While we will get into the overall playoff performances soon, let’s just take a quick look at Game 5 and congratulate this team on a good season and the Hurricanes on a great performance. The Canes were by far the better team and deserved to win all the games they did, so best of luck to them moving forward.
The Good
Timo Meier had a solid game again and just played the way he usually does. The first assist was a great pass to Dawson Mercer, his powerplay goal showed his effort level as he was a solid net-front presence, and his forecheck on what should have been his third point was incredible. Unfortunately, he missed a shot that should go in 99% of the time. Still, he should have been very happy with his game.
Mikey McLeod also had an incredible game. Je looked like the best skater on the team for most of the night again, blocked shots, and was winning his board battles. On the first goal, it was a great pass from him to Meier and he almost had another point with some insane hands and high IQ to get the puck back to Jack Hughes who found a wide open Meier on the play. He was a factor all over the rink, and if he can play this way for a full season will be a massive asset to the team.
Akira Schmid had a pretty solid night. Despite his playoff starts either being amazing or awful, it didn’t seem to phase him. He gave the team a chance to win and the young 23-year-old got some good experience. He and the Devils should feel great about his future.
The Bad
Damon Severson was noticeable and like most of the times he is now it was in a bad way, throwing the puck right up the middle of the ice near the end of the first and almost ruining the good end of the period the team worked so hard for. He obviously has more experience than Kevin Bahl, but there’s an argument that Severson could have been sat for his mistakes.
The team struggled at the end of periods again. That has just been a consistent thing for too long now. In the first, Severson nearly cost them. In the second, Burns scored with under a minute left to tie it up. Then, in the third, this team was hanging on for dear life as the closing seconds counted down. The coaching staff cannot let this go unnoticed next season.
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The roster choices were and always seemed to be a little odd. Miles Wood had a decent night, but his spot in the lineup is always a question. Curtis Lazar was given the start despite Jesper Boqvist and Yegor Sharangovich watching from the stands. Both can skate, play better defense, and aren’t prone to taking stupid penalties. For a team that had scored one goal in each of its last three losses, it is an interesting choice to spurn the needed offense actively.