Devils Fall Behind Early, Lose to Hurricanes in Carolina | GAME STORY

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Devils made a push in the third period, but the whole they had fallen into against the Hurricanes was too deep.

After two periods, New Jersey was down 3-0 before Justin Dowling, called up this morning from Utica, scored his first goal of the season, his snapshot breaking through Antti Raanta to cut the Hurricanes lead.

In Carolina, the Devils lost to the Hurricanes 3-2 on Thursday night.

Dowling completed a play with his linemates Chris Tierney and Alexander Holtz, with a tic-tac-toe setup. Tierney, behind the Hurricanes net, connected with Holtz who was waiting for the pass at the goal line. Holtz found Dowling, streaking in through traffic for the Devils lone goal of the game.

The Hurricanes, however, had already built more than the lead they'd need.

Just 90 seconds into the game Sebastian Aho opened the scoring with a backhand shot past New Jersey's Nico Daws who started the game in net. The Devils escaped the first period relatively unscathed, trailing by just a single goal, but the start of the second period was ill-fated, falling behind, 2-0, then 3-0, in just 15 seconds, changing the complete course of the game.

Teuvo Teravainen and Jordan Staal scored their goals in the 15-second span to complete the Hurricanes scoring and Daws' night ended there, before being replaced by Vitek Vanecek.

“I think part of it is it just changes the look, it changes the guys thinking a little bit," associate coach Travis Green, handling the post-game comments, said. "Sometimes you pull a goalie not because he’s playing bad, but to get some momentum, really, change the look of it. I think that’s what Lindy was doing.”

The second period proved the fatal flaw for the Devils, oft hemmed in their own zone and Carolina grabbing hold of momentum. 

Both players and coach alike, saw the second period as the difference tonight and not simply because of the two quick Hurricane goals.

"They get the two quick goals, and it wasn’t so much the goals, but I thought we got caught in our end a few times just by not getting some pucks out," Green said, "Carolina, they’re good at it. They’re good at their man-on-man coverage and if you don’t get a puck out or two on one shift, all of a sudden you’re in your zone for 30, 40 seconds and it’s a lot harder, as we know, when you’re tired to get a puck out than when you’re fresh. And if you don’t get it out the first time, you’re in for a long shift."

Jesper Bratt added the Devils second goal with just 2.3 seconds remaining in the game.

New Jersey travels next to Tampa Bay to face the Lightning on Saturday night before the start of their bye-week.

Here are some observations from the game:

• The Devils challenged the 3-0 Hurricanes goal for a missed high stick on the play. Carolina’s Seth Jarvis batted the puck out of the air before passing to defenseman Brady Skjei, whose shot was tipped in by Staal.

Upon a short review, the refs determined there was no high stick on the play and instead handed New Jersey the mandatory Delay of Game penalty for a failed challenge.

The Devils proceeded to kill off the penalty.

• Daws was replaced in net in favor of Vitek Vanecek after Staal's 3-0 goal. The 23-year-old gave up nine goals on 12 shots before he was replaced 3:12 into the second period. 

It was the fifth time this season that the Devils have replaced a goaltender during a game. 

• It took over 10 minutes into the second before the Devils would register a shot in the middle period. Their 11th shot of the game came with 8:45 remaining in the second period. 

• Justin Dowling, called up this morning from Utica, played his first NHL game since the 2021-22 NHL season and first with the Devils. Dowling, a 13-year professional, started the game playing alongside Chris Tierney and Alexander Holtz. It was his 99th NHL game. Dowlings goal tonight was his first in the NHL since Oct. 23, 2023.

“It was nice to see,” Green said, handling the post-game press conference, “I thought that line was good all night. You need that, you need all lines to contribute, but I liked their game tonight.”

"It was huge for me," Dowling said, "It's been a while, over a year since I've been in the NHL so, being able to come in and contribute, do everything I can to help the team win was nice."

• Ondrej Palat returned to the Devils lineup for the first time since Dec. 30. He rejoined his teammates yesterday at practice and was back into game action tonight. With his return, he donned the A on his jersey, while Jesper Bratt wore the other one. Palat played just under 14 minutes in his return to the lineup. 

• The Devils gave up the first goal of the game for the 33rd time this season.

• Lindy Ruff got hit by a deflected puck that ricocheted into the Devils' bench. The puck struck Ruff in the jaw leaving a substantial mark, but the coach remained on the bench for the third period, but was held out for the third. Associate coach Travis Green ran the Devils bench for the final 20 minutes of the game. 

“He just wasn’t feeling right,” Green said, “He seems a little better right now than he was after the second, so that’s great.”