Devils look to get up to speed in Game 2 of Eastern 2nd Round

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The New Jersey Devils learned a hard lesson in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round on Wednesday: When someone takes away the things that make you feel special, it's not fun.

Their speed on offense and their ability to defend in layers was vaporized in a 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, particularly in the first period, when the Devils were outshot 10-1.

But the Devils also know it was only one game. After all, they lost 5-1 to the New York Rangers in Games 1 and 2 of the first round and won the series in seven games.

"We can't get too frustrated ... they obviously scoped us out, watched the video and realized the things that we do well," Devils defenseman Damon Severson said. "We created chances with speed, but there were other things that didn't look so good for us. They're going to be happy with their play but, for us, we've just got to focus on what we can do to weather their storm and find a way to beat their hard forecheck and get out of our zone.

"We have such talent that we can do it when we play in their zone and use our skill; it just takes over."

RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs. Devils series coverage]

New Jersey will look to reverse the trend in Game 2 here on Friday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, TVAS).

"They haven't seen our best yet," Devils forward Miles Wood said. "I think our compete on pucks wasn't really there and man on man, we know we can give a lot more. When we dump the puck in, we have to create more speed to get there first, get first touches.

"They're a structured group, like to get pucks out as fast as they can. We're a fast team, too, that's our strength, so the transition game is huge for us. I thought we were a little slow in that department so hopefully we can get back to our speed game."

The Hurricanes are a team built for playoff hockey. The Devils? That's something yet to be determined. Carolina offers a heavy forecheck and, shift after shift, created a lot of pressure and chaos in the New Jersey zone. They might be the most structured, fundamentally sound team remaining in the playoffs.

"They won more 50-50 battles," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "When they win puck battles, they get to create and if we win, we got to go the other way or break in quicker. You got to give them credit because that's one of the things they're really good at."

What might be most alarming through eight playoff games for the Devils, however, is that they're averaging a League-low 2.25 goals per game and are second to last with 28.0 shots per game. That's a downgrade from the 3.52 goals per game (fifth in the NHL) and 34.4 shots per game (fourth) they managed during the regular season.

"I don't think those numbers hold water after facing (Rangers goalie) Igor Shesterkin, who was incredible, in the first round," Ruff said. "Even looking at our (4-0) Game 7 win against the Rangers, I thought we could have scored five or six goals in that game. I would like to see the decision to shoot more. We gave up the opportunities early in the game; there were some more opportunities there to funnel more pucks, get pucks there and we didn't and there needs to be more of a focus on that. We were trying to be too cute. Sometimes you've got to make a hockey play."

Since many of their key forwards have sacrificed offense to play a better defensive game, personal statistics aren't what you'd expect from a few of the top players on the roster. Jack Hughes (three goals) hasn't scored since Game 4 of the first round, Nico Hischier has no goals on 23 shots, and Jesper Bratt has only an empty-net goal in the playoffs. Timo Meier, who missed Game 1 due to an upper-body injury sustained in Game 7 against the Rangers, is also seeking his first goal.

Ruff also gave no indication on his starting goalie, instead saying that question is better suited for Friday. Akira Schmid, who took the starting job in Game 3 against the Rangers, was replaced by Vitek Vanecek 1:55 into the second period of Game 1 after allowing three goals on 11 shots.

"They've been a great team all year long and we respect that, but at the same time they haven't seen our best and we hope to get to that," Wood said. "We can't give them too much respect where we step off the gas, but we do respect them as a group and hope to match that next game."