2023 Postseason: Round 2, Game 2- Hurricanes v. New Jersey Devils (CAR leads 1-0)

Both the Canes and the Devils are in familiar territory after Game 1. The Canes won their opening game last round at home, while the Devils lost Game 1 to the Rangers 5-1, the same score they lost by in Game 1 on Wednesday night. Game 1 at PNC Arena was a masterclass from the Canes on how to dominate a game. They didn't control the entire 60 minutes but it was just about the entire game. Brett Pesce and Seth Jarvis scored in the first to give the Canes a 2-0 advantage. Jesperi Kotkaniemi added to the lead just under two minutes into the second period and that would be the end of the night for Akira Schmid as Vitek Vanecek came in to replace him. Nathan Bastian responded by getting the Devils on the board with just their second shot of the night. It would sit at 3-1 until Brady Skjei blasted a shot past Vanecek in the third period and Jesper Fast added the empty-netter to secure a 5-1 win. Fast, Jordan Staal, and Jordan Martinook each finished the night with multiple points as the Canes were the better-rested team and played like it. Tonight, I'm expecting a significant response from the Devils. They were left with a lot to think about after Wednesday's loss, so I don't expect them to come out flat like they did in Game 1. 

Canes Lineup

Stefan Noesen-Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis

Jordan Martinook-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Jesper Fast

Jack Drury-Jordan Staal-Martin Necas

Paul Stastny-Derek Stepan-Jesse Puljujarvi

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Shayne Gostisbehere-Jalen Chatfield

Injuries/Scratches/Extras- Teuvo Teravainen (broken hand), Mackenzie MacEachern (healthy), Antti Raanta (healthy), Vasily Ponomarev (healthy), Calvin de Haan (healthy), Dylan Coghlan (healthy), Pyotr Kochetkov (healthy)

IR- Andrei Svechnikov (Torn ACL), Max Pacioretty (Achilles), Ondrej Kase (concussion)

The Hurricanes will roll the exact same lineup from Game 1. No lineup changes are expected. 

Starting Goalies

NJ- Akira Schmid (4-2, Pulled after allowing 3 goals on 11 shots in Game 1)

The Devils are sticking with Schmid after he lasted 21:55 on Wednesday night in their loss. Schmid has responded well to being pulled already in this postseason, posting a shutout in Game 7 against New York after being pulled in Game 6. The team clearly has faith in him to bounce back and get them a win tonight. 

CAR- Frederik Andersen (2-0, 17 saves on 18 shots in Game 1)

It wasn't a busy night for Andersen on Wednesday as he only faced 18 shots, just one of which came in the first period. He'll get the starting nod for the third straight game as he looks to give the Canes a commanding 2-0 lead by defending home ice. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

None

2nd Period

(CAR) 1:35- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (2) PP (assisted by Shayne Gostisbehere (1) & Jack Drury (1))

(CAR) 3:58- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (3) (assisted by Jordan Martinook (3) & Jesper Fast (2))

(CAR) 17:25- Jordan Staal (1) (assisted by Jack Drury (2) & Brett Pesce (3))

(CAR) 19:44- Martin Necas (2) (assisted by Shayne Gostisbehere (2) & Jaccob Slavin (2))

3rd Period

(NJ) 3:49- Miles Wood (1) (assisted by Michael McLeod (3) & Nathan Bastian (1))

(CAR) 12:48- Jordan Martinook (1) (unassisted)

(CAR) 13:42- Stefan Noesen (3) (assisted by Sebastian Aho (5) & Seth Jarvis (3))

Let's Talk About the Game

The Canes looked at their amazing performance in Game 1 and decided the only thing that could make it better was adding more offense. We've only played two games and while it takes four to win a series, it's hard not to look at the last six periods and not get excited about the potential for this team. New Jersey came out and started much better than they did in Game 1. They controlled the puck in the offensive zone for a long time, eventually drawing an early power play after Jesper Fast is called for tripping. Dougie Hamilton rang the post early in the opportunity and the problem only got worse when Jordan Martinook was called for high-sticking, giving New Jersey an abbreviated 5-on-3. Enter the penalty kill as they shut down the Devils to kill both penalties and set the tone for the rest of the night. The offense slowly started to roll for the Canes. Akira Schmid was challenged a few times and was up to the task after being pulled on Wednesday night. The Canes asserted themselves physically too with Fast and Jesperi Kotkaniemi each leveling two huge hits within a few seconds of each other. Kotkaniemi's uit on Nico Hischier was especially pretty. The Canes drew a power play with under five minutes left in the period but wouldn't generate much offense. With four seconds left, the Canes would draw another penalty that would carry over to the second period. The period ended in a tie as both Andersen and Schmid were strong early. 

Twice in the first round, the Canes made the Islanders play for two late-period penalties by Matt Martin. With Jonas Siegenthaler in the box and a fresh sheet of ice, the Canes got on the board early in the period. Jack Drury won a battle along the boards while on his knees, getting the puck back to Shayne Gostisbehere. He sent the puck over to Kotkaniemi with plenty of space and he made no mistakes. Kotkaniemi's shot found its way under the blocker side arm of Schmid and into the net to break the ice. It wouldn't take long for the Canes to find another one as Martinook and Fast pestered the Devils on the forecheck. The puck made its way out to Kotkaniemi and he snapped another one past Schmid for his second goal in 2:23 to make it 2-0. The Devils made another push after the second goal but were continually met by Andersen. The end of the period turned into a track meet. Drury made another great play along the boards, springing Jordan Staal on a breakaway and he undressed Schmid. The Devils' goalie went one way and Staal slid the puck past him to make it 3-0. Brent Burns and Tomas Tatar would take retaliatory penalties against each other, getting sent to the box in the final minutes. During the 4-on-4, it looked like Brady Skjei had scored a goal as he put a puck past Schmid after Seth Jarvis was denied on the initial chance. While called a goal to start, the referees got together and called it off, keeping it 3-0. I thought Jarvis did as much as he could to avoid Schmid, even getting some help from the Devils, but my disdain with the goal being called off wouldn't last long. On the next rush up the ice, Schmid would fan on an attempted clear, giving the puck to Jaccob Slavin. He threw it from a tough angle and rang the post. The puck bounced out to Gostisbehere, who passed it to Martin Necas between the dots. After fanning on the initial shot, Necas got enough of the puck to beat Schmid with 15 seconds left to send the Canes into the locker room up 4-0. 

As was the case in Game 1, Schmid would be lifted for Vitek Vanecek to start the third period with Lindy Ruff hoping it would spark his team. In a way, it did. Miles Wood put pick up the trash after Michael McLeod was pushed off of the puck as Wood snapped it past Andersen to ruin the shutout and give the Devils some hope. A penalty on Jalen Chatfield about midway through the period would give the Devils a chance to get within two goals. The penalty kill was having none of it, nearly finishing a 2-on-1 short-handed to kill the penalty. Martinook would signal the beginning of the end for New Jersey by intercepting a pass at the defensive blue line and picking the top corner on Vanecek to finish the breakaway, making it 5-1. Not to be outdone, Sebastian Aho realized he still hadn't recorded a point yet. 54 seconds after Martinook's goal, he set up Stefan Noesen on a 2-on-1 to extend the lead to 6-1 and it was at that point the Canes and the fans knew the series was going to be 2-0. The wave came out at PNC Arena as the Canes eased their way to another home victory, sending the series to New Jersey with the Devils in a massive hole. 

12 Hurricanes found the scoresheet tonight with four guys recording multi-point nights. Anyone concerned about where the Canes would find their offense with Teuvo Teravainen out for a little bit and both Andrei Svechnikov and Max Pacioretty out for the season should look at these last two games. The scoring is coming from all over the lineup. It's also coming from guys that didn't have notable first rounds. I can't pinpoint many things I didn't love about tonight's game. The Devils' fourth line was their best once again, scoring the only goal of the game for the second straight contest. I didn't love the turnover from Gostosbehere to begin the play but he was solid otherwise. Getting goals from Staal and Necas to get them into the series is a big deal too. The offensive explosion shouldn't overshadow how strong of a night Andersen had in the net. He was much busier tonight than he was on Wednesday night and outside of the one goal that I can't put on him, Andersen was magnificent. He didn't have to make too many spectacular saves but it was his rebound control that stood out to me the most. If a shot was in his chest, it was being caught and held. For Game 3, I'm going to be looking for New Jersey's stars to be a lot more active in front of the home fans. Getting Timo Meier back is a good step in the right direction because I thought he had a decent night. The fourth line can't continue to carry the offense for New Jersey and both teams know that. The Canes did the easy part, winning both games at home. Now, they need to show that winning two of the three games in New York can be translated over to this series. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Jack Drury (2 Assists)

A lot of players deserve to be in the top three and a bunch of guys had good second periods, but I'm focusing on two huge plays that Drury made to set up two goals. On the power-play goal from Kotkaniemi, he won a board battle while off of his skates, earning the secondary assist. On Staal's goal, he made sure to get the puck into the zone as he found Staal for a breakaway. Not a bad way to get your first two postseason points. 

Second Star- Jordan Martinook (Goal, Assist)

After being held scoreless in the first round, Martinook has put together back-to-back multi-point games to begin the second round. As he always has done, Martinook was a madman on the forecheck to set up Kotkaniemi's second goal and scored one of his own in the third period that I initially didn't think went into the net. He's finding his footing offensively after one of the best regular seasons of his career. 

First Star- Jesperi Kotkaniemi (2 Goals)

Another guy that didn't score a goal in the first round, Kotkaniemi has scored three times in two games with both of tonight's goals serving as important markers. He did benefit from the hard work of others to get him the puck but it also takes some skill to get the puck into the net. He's starting to heat up, which is another great sign for the Canes if they want to continue to succeed. I also can't forget the massive hit he had on Hischier in the first period to get the crowd to their feet. 

Around the League

Toronto/Florida (FLA 2-0)- The Panthers erased an early 2-0 deficit by taking the lead early in the second period less than a minute apart. Sergei Bobrovsky continued to look like he did in 2019 when he helped Columbus upset Tampa Bay as Florida won both games in Toronto to take a 2-0 series lead. 

Dallas/Seattle (Tied 1-1)- After losing the first game at home, Dallas was much stronger in Game 2, jumping on the Kraken and never letting the lead go. Joe Pavelski scored his fifth goal of the series and Jake Oettinger looked much stronger as the Stars tied the series and ensured the series would come back home. 

Vegas/Edmonton (VGK 1-0)- While they began their series on Wednesday night like the Canes did, they have already earned an extra day of rest. They'll be the lone series in action tomorrow night after Vegas overcame a four-goal performance from Leon Draisaitl in Game 1 to win 6-4.