The New Jersey Devils dropped a very disappointing matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon. So much has gone wrong this season, but one of the underrated problems is the fact that the Devils still can’t beat the Carolina Hurricanes. After a demoralizing 5-2 loss, the Devils have officially been swept by the Canes this season. They finished with an 18-7 goal differential. None of the matchups were within one goal, and most were three or more goals between them.
The Hurricanes own the Devils. It’s just not close in the matchup right now. On Saturday, even with the Devils holding a 1-0 lead into the second period, it felt inevitable that the Devils would see their rival come in and take the game from them.
There’s too much talent on the Devils for a team to beat them with such a simple system, but they are suffocated by what Rod Brind’Amour is able to put on them. It’s basically the 2026 version of the neutral zone trap.
The Devils cannot beat this strategy, and it completely tanks their offense. Their only options is to go on the power play against one of the best penalty kills in the league, or pray they can make a big play.
We saw towards the end of the game that the Devils were desperate to make that big play. The dump and chase has never worked against this. Trying by force to gain entry into the offensive zone hasn’t worked. Putting “grit” into the lineup hasn’t worked (mostly because they don’t have the right version of grit on this team).
The Devils are still nowhere near the top of the Metropolitan Division
It shows how much the Devils have changed to beat the Hurricanes, yet it still isn't working. Going 0-for-4 against a team you were building to beat is a problem.
The Devils started the season with a loss to the Hurricanes, and Saturday night put the final nail in the coffin. It was already over before this game, but this was confirmation that the recent positive swoon was a phase. The Devils can’t beat the Hurricanes right now.
Tom Fitzgerald tried to build a team like the Florida Panthers, and he came up 10 steps short. He wasn’t wrong in his idea, but his process was terrible. Now, the Devils are going to miss the playoffs with no true direction towards contention.