2025 Postseason: Carolina Hurricanes vs. New Jersey Devils 1st Round Review

Series Recap

Game 1: Jalen Chatfield sets the tone in the first period, and Logan Stankoven strikes twice in the second period to put the Canes ahead, 3-0. The Devils get one back late in the second, but the Canes prevail 4-1 to open the series.

Game 2: Jesper Bratt scores early for the Devils, though it doesn't hold up as the Canes strike twice early in the second period to take the lead on Jordan Martinook's short-handed tally. Seth Jarvis finishes it into the empty net as the Canes take a 2-0 series lead.

Game 3: The Devils push the Canes into a 2-0 hole early in the third period. The Canes' power play scores twice in the third period to send the game to overtime. After completing the fourth period, Simon Nemec scores early in double overtime to give the Devils life with a 3-2 victory. 

Game 4: A fast start for the Hurricanes nearly disappears after Frederik Andersen leaves the game early in the second period. However, Andrei Svechnikov's hat trick is enough to get the Canes over the line, winning 5-2 to push the Devils to the brink of elimination.

Game 5: New Jersey scores three times against Pyotr Kochetkov in the first ten minutes, but a ferocious start to the second period helps the Canes draw even. In a 4-4 game in double overtime, Sebastian Aho scores on the power play to finish the series in five games, helping the Canes advance with a 5-4 win.

New Jersey MVP: Jacob Markstrom (.911 SV%, 2.78 GAA in 5 games)

Nico Hischier deserves an honorable mention for scoring four of New Jersey's 11 goals. Instead, I'm giving this honor to the man in the net who kept this series from being a blowout. Goaltending was always going to be the biggest difference between the 2023 series and this one. Markstrom's final numbers don't jump off the page, but the work he did was solid. He eclipsed 40 saves twice (41 in Game and 49 in Game 5), did everything he could to keep his team in Game 2, and was stellar in their lone victory in Game 3. Game 4 was the only game he finished below a .900 save percentage. His performance in the third period and first overtime of Game 5 was Superman-like, trying to send the series back to Newark. His team didn't respond with a goal, but it wasn't for a lack of trying.

Hurricanes' Three Stars of the Series

Third Star: Frederik Andersen (3-1, 1.59 GAA, .936 SV%)

Not finishing the series was the only downside to the first round for Frederik Andersen. He was incredible in the first three games, even in the Game 3 loss. He made Timo Meier's life miserable with the number of stops he made, which is likely why he ran him in Game 4 to knock Andersen out of the series. Andersen wasn't as busy as Markstrom, so his margin for error was much smaller. There weren't many soft goals scored against him, giving the team plenty of runway, even with his Game 4 injury.

Second Star- Sebastian Aho (3 goals, 5 assists)

One of the biggest stories of the series was the Canes' power play getting hot at the right time. Sebastian Aho was at the forefront of the charge. All three of his goals came on the man advantage, including the game-tying and series-clinching goals in Game 5 in a three-point performance. He added a pair of assists on the power play as well. Aho led all skaters in the series with eight points. He added 17 hits in the five contests and won over 58% of his faceoffs. He stepped up when the team needed him to.

First Star- Andrei Svechnikov (5 goals, 1 assist)

While he might've finished second in points, Andrei Svechnikov is my series MVP. Along with leading all skaters in goals (5), including his second career postseason hat trick in Game 4, Svechnikov was a physical presence and everlasting thorn in Markstrom's side. He got Markstrom so mad that he slashed his own teammate in Game 1. Svechnikov had points in four of the five contests, goals in three of them, and laid 16 hits. He was the type of player the team needed him to be, balancing his offense and his physicality without taking a single penalty. 

Final Thoughts

The 4-1 count in this series both tells the entire story and undersells the Devils' level of compete against the Hurricanes. If not for Jack Hughes' injury in the regular season and three of their defensemen getting hurt during the series, this might've gone six or seven games. The Canes' won this series in a few different ways, but two stand out about the rest. First, they dominated on special teams. The power play torched the second-best penalty kill in the league for six goals on 19 attempts, scoring at incredibly important times. The Canes' penalty kill was perfect, going 15-for-15 to shut down the Devils' third-ranked power play and scoring a short-handed goal. Second, the Canes did a lot of their damage during the second period. The Canes outscored the Devils 9-4 in the middle frame, using it to win Games 1 and 2, and tie Game 5 before winning in double overtime. I had the Hurricanes in six games, assuming they wouldn't stay perfect on home ice. I'm glad I was wrong, especially after Andersen got hurt. Give him a few extra days to heal before dealing with the Washington Capitals.