- Timo Meier returned to the Devils lineup for his first game of the Second Round series. Meier hadn't played since he took a big hit from Rangers Jacob Trouba in Game 7 last week. Meier took morning skate ahead of Game 1 in Carolina but did not dress. He returned to the lineup wearing a full face shield.
- Although the score at the end of the game was not what the Devils would have hoped from their performance, they were far better, more connected and generating more than they could do in Game 1. They dictated play right off the bat and for a good 10-minute stretch to start the game. Starting the game with Michael McLeod, Miles Wood and Nathan Bastian as the puck dropped sent a message of blue-collar work heading into the first shift.
The McLeod line was the best line in Game 1, generating the most and scoring the lone goal (Bastian) and again tonight was a line of hard work, hits and getting in Fredrik Andersen's crease when they could.
- The Hurricanes took over the game in the second period scoring four goals against the Devils, including their fourth goal with 15 seconds remaining in the period - after their previous 4th goal was pulled off the board for goaltender interference.
The play started with defenseman Jaccob Slavin off the rush and streaking in on Akira Schmid. Schmid elected to leave his net for the poke check, which he did get but the puck ended up right back on Slavin's stick. What followed was a chaotic shift ending in the Hurricanes' goal. Slavin got a sharp angle shot off from the corner, the puck hitting the post and rebounding out in front and Schmid out of position. Martin Necas was the beneficiary, beating Schmid in all the chaos and the Hurricanes took a 4-0 stranglehold on the game.
- The Devils reached their entire Game 1 shot total (18) well before the 60 minute mark tonight. The Devils surpassed their 18 shots from Game 1 with their 19th in Game 2 with five minutes to play in the second.
- Ryan Graves was drilled into the end-boards by Carolina's Jesper Fast towards the end of the first period. Graves' shoulder collided with the boards as he fell to the ice. Initially the defenseman skated to the team bench, before leaving the in the following TV timeout to head to the team locker room.
Graves did return to the game at the start of the second period. The hit on Graves was just one of the many hits and disruptions being thrown between the two teams in the first period. Nico Hischier was also on the receiving end of a big hit (and later a stick to the mouth), as the two teams went head-to-head in Game 2.
- Akira Schmid started Game 2 but was replaced by Vitek Vanecek to start the third period after the four goals given up in the second. Lindy Ruff was adamant in noting that Schmid being pulled in the first game was not a reflection of his play, but of the performance in front of him and try to change the Game 1 momentum.
For a second game, Schmid was pulled, this time after the four-goal second period by the Hurricanes. Vanecek led the team out of the tunnel to start the third period and played the remaining 20 minutes.
"You just need to get V some playing time too. We'll have to make a decision on the next game and I wanted to give him the opportunity to get in the mix tonight, and the other night," coach Ruff said after the game of his decision to replace Schmid with Vanecek.
- Miles Wood's goal was less a typical crash-and-bang goal that you might expect from the fourth line. Miles Wood put the Devils on the board at 3:49 into the third period to break Andersen's shutout bid, Wood snapping the puck past Andersen, for his first goal of the playoffs.
The fourth line has factored in on the only two goals the Devils have managed to score in the opening two games. In Game 1, McLeod assisted on Bastian's goal, while McLeod and Bastian assisted on Bastian's goal tonight.
- The Devils went without being shut out in the 82-game regular season and have not been shut out this postseason, thanks to Wood's goal. That would be a continuous stretch of 91 games without being shutout (and counting…)
- Just prior to puck drop head coach Lindy Ruff was named as a Jack Adams Finalist. The award is given to the league's top coach, an award he has won once in his career already with Buffalo. Ruff is joined as a finalist by Jim Montgomery (BOS) and Dave Hakstol (SEA).
