Decision #3: Move Timo Meier to third line
We don't want to pile onto the Timo Meier railroad, but the Devils' close-to-$9-million man had multiple insane opportunities in Game 2. He fumbled all of them. On the most prominent chance, Meier had the puck come right to him with Andersen out of position. He had a country mile of open net, and he couldn't get good wood on the puck. He swung his stick, and it went backwards.
This is similar to what Meier was dealing with during the regular season. Meier was incredibly unlucky. At times, he was as unlucky as any player in the entire NHL. Can he turn it around in a series, or should the Devils make the appropriate move to use his ability in a different way?
Meier still adds to the Devils in different ways. He gets under the skin of the other team, and he did that on multiple occasions on Tuesday night. Heck, he forced Brent Burns, the most veteran player on the ice, to headbutt him at the end of the second period. That should have put the Hurricanes on the penalty kill for an unstoppable five minutes, but the referees decided against calling the penalty.
Putting Meier with Cody Glass and Stefan Noesen could give the Devils three interesting lines that force the Hurricanes to change their gameplan. That's exactly what Sheldon Keefe wants to do.