The New Jersey Devils came into their season-opening game against the Carolina Hurricanes hoping to extinguish some demons after they eliminated them from the playoffs last season. They played tough for a while, tying the game at 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3, but the Hurricanes scored a goal with less than three minutes left, and the wheels came off after that.
The Devils ended up losing the game in Carolina 6-3. It was a disappointing response to a disastrous playoff loss to end their season in April. After a few offseason moves to add more to the bottom six, the Devils spent a good chunk of the game looking overwhelmed.
To the Devils’ credit, they did find really good ways to limit chances and get big chances of their own. At even strength, the Devils allowed 59 chances, but just 10 were considered high-danger chances according to Natural Stat Trick. The Devils, meanwhile, got just six high-danger chances of their own, but they probably had a few more legit scoring opportunities that came from lower-value scoring areas.
The Devils got goals from Dougie Hamilton, Cody Glass, and Jesper Bratt. All three of them deserves to score, as they were amazing all night. Hamilton also laid two huge hits, showing he might be switching his style to fit the second half of his career. Glass made a few really good plays, and he sniped the corner for the Devils’ second goal of the game.
Carolina had big games from Taylor Hall (one goal, one assist), K’Andre Miller (two goals), Seth Jarvis (two very late goals), and Shayne Gostisbehere (two assists). Jaccob Slavin was his normal annoying self in the defensive end, poking away at least a dozen pucks on really good chances. It was a typical game against the Hurricanes.
Devils didn't do nearly enough to beat the Hurricanes on opening night
There’s just something about how the Hurricanes match up with the Devils right now. There’s an extra gear there. This is a rivalry game, so the Devils have to learn why they aren’t producing like they should in these games, because it’s very likely they will see them again.
Jacob Markstrom had a mediocre night. He made some big saves but also allowed at least 10 pucks to get behind him (five goals and five posts). Some estimates even say the Canes hit seven posts. Honestly, mediocre might be too nice.
The Devils can chalk this up to losing momentum and a team motivated by opening night. It wasn’t a game to get excited about for New Jersey, but we saw some things we liked. Hopefully, putting Ondrej Palat on the first line is a short-lived experiment.