The New Jersey Devils drew the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. New Jersey is the third seed in the Metropolitan Division facing the second seeded Carolina.
As a result of these seeds, the Devils will kick things off against the Hurricanes in Raleigh, North Carolina. That will begin on Easter Sunday at 3 PM ET. That game will be aired in the U.S. on ESPN.
The second game will take place on Tuesday, April 22nd, at 6 PM ET. Again, that one will be on ESPN as they will be wrapping up the first road trip of the playoffs.
Games 3 and 4 will take place in Newark at Prudential Center. The first match will be on Friday, April 25th, at 8 p.m. CT. The second will be on Sunday, two days later, at 3:30 p.m. ET. These games will be on the Turner networks and streaming on Max.
Game 5, if necessary, will be back in Raleigh on Tuesday, April 29th. Game six would be back at Prudential Center on Friday May 2nd. If it came down to a winner take all game seven, the Hurricanes would host on Sunday May 4th. All of the times and networks for the "if necessary" games are TBD.
Here is the New Jersey Devils’ first round schedule against the Carolina Hurricanes: pic.twitter.com/SdfThtD5UI
— Vinnie Parise (@VinnieParise) April 17, 2025
Not a lot of people are giving the Devils much of a chance in this series due to injuries and inconsistent play since the Christmas break. However, you know that things can change in an instant when the postseason begins.
New Jersey's first game of the playoffs, taking place on Easter Sunday, is an afternoon game as a result of the interest surrounding some of the other series' going on.
The playoffs in general will begin one night prior with two games. The Winnipeg Jets will host the St. Louis Blues to kick it off followed by a big-time matchup between the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars right after.
This won't be the first time that the Devils are underdogs going into a series in recent memory. We've seen them upset thier opponents and we've seen them live up to their underdog status. If they can steal one of the two games in Raleigh off the bat, they might have a chance.