Off to Raleigh | NOTEBOOK

The Devils met at Prudential Center Wednesday afternoon before heading to the airport. The club traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina ahead of its Game 1 contest Thursday night against the Hurricanes to open the Second Round.

Head coach Lindy Ruff, forward Jesper Bratt and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler met with the media prior to the trip.

The Devils have a quick turnaround with just one day between series, but Ruff prefers it that way.

"I would rather just keep this thing going," he said, "keep your schedule, have it every other day, rather than having four or five days and trying to simulate games and what your opponent will look like. We've got our game at a high pace, we know that today is a rest day and tomorrow we're back to work."

Check out the Devils Notebook for updates, commentary, videos and more from the team's travel day!

Meier Status

Head coach Lindy Ruff didn't have an update on forward Timo Meier, who suffered a hard hit from New York's Jacob Trouba in Game 7. He was on the ice for some time following the play and went to the locker room. Though he returned to the bench, he did not play the rest of the game.

"He came back from the bench and said he was feeling OK," Ruff said. "I haven't seen him yet, but I'm anticipating good news, I can tell you that."

Meier was bloodied by the play, to which Ruff noted: "He looks like an old-fashion hockey player."

Turn the Page

The Devils pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind series victory against the New York Rangers with their 4-0 Game 7 victory Monday night at Prudential Center. New Jersey trailed 2-0 in the series, but won four of the last five contests to advance to the Second Round.

And general manager Tom Fitzgerald had some words for his triumphant group.

One of the stars of Game 7 was rookie goaltender Akira Schmid, who stopped 31 shots to record his second career postseason shutout, and second blanking in the past three games.

But with Carolina Hurricanes looming ahead, it was time to turn to the page from the Game 7 high.

"We're back to reality. It's a quick turnaround here," defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler said. "The Rangers are the past. Now it's Carolina, so we have to focus on that."

On to Raleigh:

Now, the Devils turn their attention to the Metro Division winning Carolina Hurricanes.

"They're a good team. We know how they play," Siegenthaler said. "They're fast. They're big. We've beat them as well this year. If we play our way we give ourselves a pretty good chance. We have to stick with our plan, play hockey and have fun."

"They're an extremely good team," forward Jesper Bratt said. "They're forechecking hard. They're a five-man unit. They don't give up a lot. They play tight in the D zone. You don't create too many chances against them. We're going to have to be sharp and play our best game."

Both teams split the season series, going 2-1-1 against each other. It will likely be a tight game between two highly competitive clubs.

"We know the strengths of that team. We were prepared for them when we played them," Ruff said. "We know we're going to get one hell of a series from them. When you get inside a seven-game series, they tend to know a lot more about us and we tend to know a lot more about them. You play them during the year, you make adjustments, you know what their tendencies are."

The Hurricanes are a very structured team in the neutral and defensive zone. It's been a major factor in their success on head coach Rod Brind'Amour.

"You look at the way Rod has his team playing and they're a team that understands the way they need to play better than any team in this league," Ruff said.

"They give up the least amount of scoring chances against and rush chances," Bratt said. "We have to make sure we play good with the puck and don't force their offense."

Though some of the defensive zone structure and forecheck schemes are different, the Devils and Hurricanes play similar in the fact that they're both fast, aggressive and like to active their defensemen. While it will be hard to create offense against Carolina, the Devils must also be cognizant of their defensive responsibilities.

"You have to use your speed for backchecking," Ruff said. "Our backcheckers can match the speed of their defensemen. Then it's managing your shifts, making sure your shift length doesn't get too long and all of a sudden, the other team can take advantage of you."

He Said It

Jesper Bratt on his first-career playoff goal in Game 7: "For myself to get on the board was a confidence boost, get that out of the way. Now we can really get to work."

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