2022-23 Regular Season, Game 65: Hurricanes (43-13-8) at New Jersey Devils

The Canes will need to flush last night's effort from their system because they just didn't have it against the Vegas Golden Knights. They played from behind all night and Jonathan Quick finished the night with a 33-save shutout, his first since being traded to Vegas. We got to see Jesse Puljujarvi in Canes colors for the first time and he played a solid game. There wasn't much to love about the Canes' game overall, though there were a few decent moments here and there. Frederik Andersen didn't get a lot of help, though the opening goal from the Golden Knights is one he'd like to have back. You can say what you want about the officiating all night but it wasn't the reason they lost. All of it lives in the past as the most important game of the season takes place in New Jersey tonight. 

Projected Lines/Pairs

Seth Jarvis-Sebastian Aho-Jesse Pujujarvi

Teuvo Teravainen-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Martin Necas

Jordan Martinook-Jordan Staal-Jesper Fast

Stefan Noesen-Paul Stastny-Derek Stepan

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Calvin de Haan-Shayne Gostisbehere

Pyotr Kochetkov

Frederik Andersen

Injuries/Scratches- Dylan Coghlan (healthy), Andrei Svechnikov (lower-body injury; day-to-day), Antti Raanta (lower-body injury; day-to-day), Jalen Chatfield (upper-body injury; day-to-day)

IR- Max Pacioretty (Achilles), Ondrej Kase (LTIR- concussion)

It turns out the injury to Andrei Svechnikov is severe enough that he isn't good to go tonight. This will bring Derek Stepan back into the lineup tonight with Jesse Puljujarvi playing beside his WJC teammate, Sebastian Aho. In the net, Pyotr Kochetkov will get the start. Though he's only played 23 games in the NHL, he's faced the Devils three times, including twice this season. He stopped 37 shots in the first meeting of the season, a 4-1 victory for Carolina, then allowed four goals in the 5-3 loss the last time these two met. The Devils were the team that Kochetkov made his NHL debut against last season. 

Tonight's Opponent: New Jersey Devils (43-16-6, 92 Points, 2nd in the Metropolitan)

The incredible story of the New Jersey Devils' resurgence continues to be written. For as good as the Canes have been this season, the Devils haven't allowed them much room at the top of the division. They've been on fire lately, winning six of their last eight (6-1-1), including their previous two, and like the Canes, they've won seven of their last ten. They were in action last night also, battling Montreal north of the border. Nathan Bastian put New Jersey up early in the first period and Nico Hischier would pick up his 28th of the season near the end of the period to double the lead. Montreal would get a goal back in the second period but Tomas Tatar would kill the comeback with a dagger late in the third period to earn a 3-1 victory. Akira Schmid made 23 saves to earn the win. Dawson Mercer is as hot as any player in the league right now. He picked up an assist last night to improve his point streak to 12 games, a stretch in which he has 11 goals and 20 points. Of course, there is also Jack Hughes to worry about as he tries to add to his potential Hart nomination. With a regulation win tonight, the Devils can't take over first place in the division since the Canes still hold a game in hand but it continues to add pressure to the Canes are they shoot for their third-straight division crown. 

Last Meeting v. Carolina- After Carolina won the first two meetings, the Devils got some revenge with their return trip to Raleigh. The Canes' penalty kill would get the Canes on the board first as Jesperi Kotkaniemi snapped one past Vitek Vanacek but Yegor Shaeangovich would sneak one through Pyotr Kochetkov from a bad angle before the end of the period even things up before the intermission. The Canes came out hot in the second period as Max Pacioretty scored his third of the season early in the period and Sebastian Aho scored the team's second short-handed goal of the night to make it 3-1 late in the period. After that, Mercer took over the game. With less than a minute left in the period, Mercer pulled the Devils within one, and just 16 seconds later, he'd set up Jesper Boqvist to get the Devils even once again. The momentum would carry into the third period as Mercer would score his second of the night to give New Jersey their first lead and Hischier would put the dagger in it to secure the 5-3 win for the Devils. 

New Jersey's Starting Goalie: Vitek Vanacek (27-7-3, 2.55 GAA, .907 SV%)- There has been very little beating Vanacek as he continues to have a major bounce-back season. He's only lost three times in 2023 (14-2-1), though one of those losses was in his last start against Toronto on Tuesday night. He's been in the net for two of the three meetings to this point, with a win and a loss. He was pulled from the first start before the third period, allowing three goals on 13 shots, before stopping 25 shots in New Jersey's win in January. Despite the solid record, Vanacek has allowed two or more goals in his last 11 starts and four or more in four of his last five.  

New Jersey Player to Watch: Timo Meier- It really came down to the Canes and Devils at the deadline for Meier and we all see how that ended. To the Canes' credit, it sounded like they made a decent offer to the Sharks for the 30-goal scorer. He scored in his debut with the Devils last Sunday but has been held off of the scoresheet in his last three. Meier also has come up empty in two games against the Canes this season. With this being a major game for both sides and he being the new guy to the equation, he could find himself right in the middle of it. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(NJ) 6:44- Jack Hughes (37) (unassisted)

(NJ) 8:47- Jesper Bratt (26) (assisted by Jack Hughes (41) & Dougie Hamilton (45))

2nd Period

(NJ) 4:31- Jesper Bratt (27) (assisted by Jack Hughes (42))

3rd Period

None

Let's Talk About the Game

I hate these types of losses. Essentially three players did everything for the Devils, yet they still managed to win the game. It doesn't help when one of the three players is the goalie. Vitek Vanecek was fantastic tonight as the Canes were "goalied" for the second night in a row. Offensively, it was Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt combining for all three goals and five points. Meanwhile, I'm not convinced the Canes could buy a goal if they were on sale at Wal-Mart. They had a ton of high-quality scoring chances tonight that Vanecek anticipated and stopped. Everything that was clicking in the wins over Arizona and Tampa Bay has suddenly disappeared. The power play failed to convert three times. The Canes beat themselves on all three goals. For the second time in three games, Calvin de Haan made a bad decision in front of his own net. He was able to get away with it against the Flyers but it didn't fly against a player like Hughes. He was stripped of the puck trying to turn around and Hughes squeaked the shot through the pads of Pyotr Kochetkov to make it 1-0 early. Just over two minutes later, Hughes was at it again during the 4-on-4. This time, he fed a pass to Bratt as he won a race to the front of the net and placed the puck exactly where Hughes just had to make it 2-0. The Canes failed to convert on two late power plays and New Jersey cruised into the intermission. The only other goal was also from Bratt after Kochetkov tried to do too much with the puck. He nearly took a penalty and given the result, I'd have preferred that over the gift of a goal Bratt received. Kochetkov couldn't get back in position and the defense couldn't clear the puck from the crease as Bratt made it 3-0. The score would hold there, Vanecek stopped everything he could and couldn't see, and the Devils pulled even with the Canes in the division. 

Going back to the Philadelphia game, the Canes have been held scoreless for 177:51. I'm not sure when the last time they were shut out in consecutive games but I'd guess it was a while ago. Losing Andrei Svechnikov for the game was a real shot in the arm but I'm not sure he could've saved this team tonight. The Canes had quite a few odd-man rushes in the early portion of the game that they couldn't finish. Stefan Noesen had two that I remember for sure in the first half of the opening period. Jesper Fast had one in the third period that began with an excellent stretch pass from Brent Burns to Sebastian Aho. Speaking of Aho, his line was the team's best tonight. Aho probably had the best chance of the game for the Canes in the second period right after New Jersey made it 3-0. Jesse Puljujarvi, who also had a very solid game, found Aho all alone at the top of the crease but Vanecek flashed the leather to deny him. 

The Canes and Devils are now tied in points with 94 and the Carolina holds the edge for now with a game in hand. The losses this weekend reaffirmed how important it was to win games earlier this week against inferior teams. They were four points the Canes needed to bank and they did. Did I expect them to be shut out twice? No, but I also understood these would be challenging games. The only thing the Canes can do from here is win. While highly unlikely, if both Carolina and New Jersey win every game from this point, the Canes would win the division by two points. The Canes control their destiny, even with a grueling schedule the rest of the way. When looking at the remaining schedules for each team, I think the Canes have an edge. The rest of their March is brutal with the Leafs twice, the Rangers twice, the Bruins, the Lightning, and the Jets, but April is considerably lighter in terms of teams fighting for a playoff spot. The Devils play three of their next four against Tampa Bay, play Buffalo twice, Boston once, and at least one more game against everyone in the division. The division is still winnable, even after these two losses. It's not time to start panicking, though not winning the division won't be the end of the world. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

As is customary when the Canes get shut out, I don't have stars to give out. I'll give a shoutout to the Aho-Jarvis-Puljujarvi line because they were easily the Canes' best all night. They combined for nine shots and had some of the Canes' best chances of the game. Brent Burns and Jaccob Slavin had solid nights as well, combining for nine shots and six blocks. 

What's Next

The road doesn't get any easier for the Canes. They'll go home for one game as the Winnipeg Jets come to Raleigh after sweeping their run through Florida. After beating the Panthers last night in overtime, the Jets beat Tampa Bay tonight, 3-2. Winnipeg is currently battling for a spot in the top three in the Central Division. The Canes will have two days off before a three-game road trip. They'll start in Toronto on Friday night before traveling to Philadelphia the next night. The final stop of the trip is in Madison Square Garden for the first part of a home-and-home with the New York Rangers. They'll be in the Garden next Tuesday before returning to Raleigh to host the Rangers on Thursday. The second game against the Rangers begins a four-game homestand that will also feature games against Toronto, Boston, and Tampa Bay.