The New Jersey Devils were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Carolina Hurricanes, losing 5-4 in double overtime in Game 5 of the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round on Tuesday.
New Jersey (42-33-7), the No. 3 seed in the Metropolitan Division, qualified for the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.
The skinny
Potential unrestricted free agents: Tomas Tatar, F; Nathan Bastian, F; Curtis Lazar, F; Daniel Sprong, F; Justin Dowling, F; Brian Dumoulin, D; Dennis Cholowski, D; Jake Allen, G
Potential restricted free agents: Cody Glass, F; Nolan Foote, F; Luke Hughes, D
Potential 2025 Draft picks: 6
Here are five reasons the Devils were eliminated:
1. Injury fallout
The Devils were dealing with numerous injuries to key players from start to finish throughout the series, affecting chemistry and cohesiveness in front of goalie Jacob Markstrom.
Defensemen Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon each sustained an undisclosed injury during a 4-1 loss in Game 1 on April 20 and didn't return for the remainder of the series. Dillon was pushed awkwardly to the ice by Hurricanes forward William Carrier at 8:25 of the second period and never returned. Hughes left for the locker room at 8:36 of the third after taking a hit to the shoulder but came back at 15:32.
In a 3-2 double-overtime win in Game 3 on April 25, defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic sustained an undisclosed injury in the first period and did not return.
New Jersey was short its most prolific offensive weapon to begin the series in center Jack Hughes, who was ruled out for the remainder of the season after having shoulder surgery March 5.
2. Secondary scoring outage
New Jersey received zero goals from forwards not named Nico Hischier (four), Timo Meier (two), Dawson Mercer (two), Jesper Bratt (one) and Stefan Noesen (one), and that proved problematic. They got one goal from a defenseman (Simon Nemec's winner in Game 3). Carolina received goals from seven forwards and four defensemen.
The absence of Jack Hughes up front and Luke Hughes in transition likely played a huge part in that, but in 20 games without Jack Hughes, the Devils did average 2.75 goals per game. They averaged a playoff-low 2.20 goals against the Hurricanes.
3. Powerless
The Devils ranked third on the power play (28.2 percent) during the regular season but were shut down completely by the Hurricanes, who had the top-ranked penalty kill (83.6 percent).
New Jersey finished 0-for-15 with 20 shots on goal on the power play. They couldn't generate enough with the man advantage and even allowed a short-handed goal to Jordan Martinook in a 3-1 loss in Game 2 on April 22.
Carolina finished 6-for-19 (31.6 percent) with the man-advantage.
Hischier (14 power-play goals during the regular season), Noesen (11), Meier (seven), Mercer (six) and Dougie Hamilton (five) combined for 14 shots on goal on the power play against the Hurricanes.
4. Slow start to Game 4
New Jersey spotted Carolina a 1-0 lead just 52 seconds into the first period of an eventual 5-2 loss at home in Game 4. It was a disappointing start, particularly after Game 3.
The Devils were outshot (29-22) and outhit (35-31), and the Hurricanes won 58.6 percent of the face-offs (41-for-70) in Game 4. Additionally, the Devils were unable to take full advantage of Hurricanes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov, who entered the game cold after starter Frederik Andersen was injured at 4:19 of the second period after being knocked over by Meier.
Kochetkov allowed a goal on the second shot he faced at 7:34 of the second, but the Devils generated just 13 shots the remainder of the game and Kochetkov stood strong.
5. Unable to finish in Game 5
The Devils took a 3-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes of Game 5 but couldn't hold it. The Hurricanes scored three goals in 3:54 to tie the game 3-3 in the second.
Hischier made it 4-3 at 7:26, converting a one-timer from the right circle off a no-look backhand pass from Paul Cotter, but Carolina tied it 4-4 at 11:27 during a 5-on-3 power play when Sebastian Aho scored on a one-timer at the bottom of the right circle.
Aho scored the winner with a power-play goal on a one-timer from the right circle at 4:17 of the second overtime.
Carolina outshot New Jersey 34-12 in the third period and both overtimes, and 54-35 for the game.
The stress put on Devils defensemen Brian Dumoulin (37:19 of ice time), Brett Pesce (32:17), Jonas Siegenthaler (32:27), Nemec (27:57) and Hamilton (26:27) ultimately was too much. Hischier, the Devils captain, also logged plenty of ice time (31:02) and finished 23-for-47 (49.0 percent) on face-offs.
"It's tough right now," said Markstrom, who made 49 saves. "I feel like, obviously, we put up four goals on the road in Carolina against a good team, and we should have brought it home. That should have been enough."
