NEWARK, N.J. - The Carolina Hurricanes took care of business on home ice and have flown north to the Garden State with the best thing they could have in their bags... a 2-0 series lead.
Game 1 was a dominant effort with little left to refine, but Game 2's start gave the group at least one area to clean up.
An uncommon lack of sharpness allowed the Devils to establish their first and only lead of the two-game set. Ultimately, it was a small segment of play that the Canes were able to recover from, but nearly two full days later, it still sits fresh and serves as something the team will be aiming to rectify for Friday's Game 3.
“I don’t think we got enough forecheck going at the start. We were making a couple of turnovers at the blue line and breakouts weren’t as clean as they needed to be," Game 2 star Jordan Martinook reasoned. "Look at Game 1, every puck we had, it was in on them. We were physical on the forecheck and that’s kind of what dictated the start to that game. I thought Game 2 it was too many turnovers and you give them life. That’s something that you don’t want to do.”
At the same time, New Jersey deserves credit for their ability to take advantage of Carolina's sloppy start.
"They had a couple of good shifts there. They hemmed us in, my line especially, and they scored right after. That’s the kind of road start we want, for sure," Jordan Staal said, before laying out the keys for his team tomorrow. "It’s getting in on them, creating some havoc, and all the things we do well. It starts with having the puck and playing in their end.”
