Devils Late Rally Falls Short in 6-3 Loss to Hurricanes | GAME STORY

You're going to find yourself in a difficult position when you fall behind early to one of the top teams in the National Hockey League.
And that's what happened to the New Jersey Devils in their final road game of the season, and despite a late rally could not overcome their early mistakes.
By the 5:33 mark of the first period, New Jersey was already down by two goals to the Carolina Hurricanes, who took the 2-0 lead off shots from the point that deflected past goaltender Andrew Hammond.
Fabian Zetterlund provided some life to the Devils, scoring his second NHL goal, firing a shot through to slot, off the post, and in the net behind Antti Raanta to cut the Hurricane's lead to 3-1 at 13:55 of the first period.
The Hurricanes would go on to show why they sit atop the Metropolitan Division, keeping their foot on the gas, despite a meaningless game in the standings for the Hurricanes. After Zetterlund's goal, Carolina stormed back further building on their lead. The Hurricanes sixth goal of the night, scored by Jordan Martinook, at 7:32 of the third, chased Andrew Hammond from the net, replaced by Jon Gillies.
Jesper Bratt tied Jack Hughes for the team lead in goals with his 26th of the season at 14:17 of the third period to cut the Hurricanes lead to 6-2. Jimmy Vesey continued the late rally for the Devils with his eighth goal of the season with just under five minutes to play to close the deficit to 6-3, the rally falling short against Carolina.
Pavel Zacha assisted on the Devils first two goals.

ALL YOUR POST-GAME INFO
GAME DAY
Box Score
Advanced Stats
In-Game Highlights
Photo Gallery
POST-GAME VIDEO
Full Highlights
Loss in Carolina | POST GAME REPORT
Players:
Zetterlund
|
Vesey
Head coach Lindy Ruff
WHAT'S NEXT
The Devils play their season finale on Friday night at Prudential Center, hosting the Detroit Red Wings. The game can be seen on MSG+ and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 7:08 p.m. ET.
Here are some observations from the game...
- Mismanagement of the puck and hesitation led to the Devils trailing by two goals before the game had reached six minutes old. Both goals against Andrew Hammond were shot from the right and left point respectively, both times the puck deflected, once off of Ethan Bear and then Dougie Hamilton, past Hammond. The puck that went off of Hamilton's stick was credited to Martin Necas.

"We had a lots of different breakdowns. But the puck play, puck management hurt us on a few goals," head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. "

- Fabian Zetterlund through the slot and pushed the pace on his first-period shift that led to the Devils opening goal. Notice briefly, before taking his wicked wrister he changes the angle of his shot just minimally, ringing the puck off the post and into the net behind Raanta. Damon Severson had the big outlet pass from behind Hammonds's net, and it was Pavel Zacha who pushed through the center of the ice with the puck, before handing off to Zetterlund. With the assist, Zacha matches his career-high in points with 35.

"I think I could have scored more goals today," Zetterlund said after the game, acknowledging he did hit a couple of posts.

- Zetterlund led all Devils with six shots on goal. - With a second assist against the Hurricanes, Zacha reached a new career-high in points with 36, setting up Jesper Bratt to cut the Hurricanes lead to 6-2 late in the third. - Zacha had a dominant night at the faceoff dot. After the second period, he was 6-for-7 and finished the night 9-for-12 for an efficiency of 75 percent on the night. - Hammond's night ended at the 7:32 mark of the third period. He was pulled and replaced by Jon Gillies. Hammond made 24 saves on 30 shots, including 18 of 24 at even strength. - Jon Gillies stopped all five shots he faced. - Alexander Holtz played 16:05, a day after being recalled from the Utica Comets. His icetime included 2:05 on the man advantage and had one shot on net.

"I really wanted to get him a good look," Ruff said of Holtz who had the third most ice-time for a forward, "You know, when you look at playing against some of the guys he played against, he played against their top line, you realize the pace you have to play with."

- Jimmy Vesey returned to the lineup after 10 games out with a bone bruise. He scored the Devils third goal of the night, for his eighth goal of the season. Vesey said he did feel a bit of rust as he was working his way back into the game, and felt he wasn't sharp enough on the play when his line was on the ice for a goal against.

"It's tough to score in this league," Vesey said of the late rally. "We put up three goals, it's not a bad night. But I think the goals we gave up were just too easy and some turnovers and breakdowns against a team like that are going to capitalize."