The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes are facing off in a home-and-home series, which could be a preview of a possible playoff matchup. After their game on Friday, both teams know they still have work to do.
The Devils will look to complete a weekend sweep, while the Hurricanes hope to even things up when New Jersey visits Carolina on Saturday night. This will be the final regular-season meeting between the two teams, with the Devils winning two of the first three matchups.
On Friday, Luke Hughes scored the game-winning goal just over four minutes into the second period, and Dawson Mercer added another goal a few minutes later to give the Devils a 4-2 victory in Newark, N.J. This win marked their third straight and sixth in the last seven games, helping them extend their lead in the Metropolitan Division.
The Devils are now three points ahead of the second-place Washington Capitals and eight points ahead of the third-place Hurricanes.
“Massive — very, very important to come out of Christmas like that,” Hughes said after the game. “Big divisional games and hopefully it’s an eight-point swing (Saturday).”
However, both teams recognized areas for improvement. The Devils, who average 30.2 shots per game (seventh in the NHL) while allowing the second-fewest shots (25.1), were outshot 31-23 by Carolina.
The 31 shots from the Hurricanes were the most allowed by the Devils since Dec. 2, when the New York Rangers fired 39 shots on goal.
Carolina also ended a streak of seven games in which New Jersey’s opponents had 20 shots or fewer, marking the longest such streak since the NHL began tracking shots in the 1959-60 season.
“I didn’t think it was our best game, by any means,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Playing against a team that’s willing to shoot the puck from the parking lot — they’re going to get it there, so you’re going to get tested.”
On the other hand, the Hurricanes, who are second in the NHL with 31.7 shots per game and allow only 25.1 shots against, played well on both ends of the ice but still couldn’t capitalize on their chances.
“I liked our game overall,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Giving up four (goals) is not what we want to do, but we didn’t really give up a ton of opportunities. So overall, I didn’t mind the game at all.”
Despite that, Carolina has been struggling to finish its scoring chances. The Hurricanes have scored three or fewer goals in four straight games, and 10 of their last 13 games dating back to Nov. 29. During this stretch, they’ve gone 5-8-0 and fallen out of first place in the Metro Division. They were also leading the entire Eastern Conference before this stretch.
“Obviously, both teams know how to play against each other,” Brind’Amour said. “There’s no secrets there. We’ve got to find a way to get a few more past them.”
