Game Preview #38: New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes

The matchup: The New Jersey Devils (23-11-3) against the Carolina Hurricanes (21-12-1). Hurricanes Blog: Canes Country

The time: 7:00 p.m

The broadcast: TV – MSGSN, FanDuel Sports Network South; Audio: Devils Hockey Radio

Home and home with a top 3 Metro team

These two games are extremely important within the Metropolitan Division as the Devils are currently one and six points ahead of the Capitals and Hurricanes, respectively. The Devils have played three more games than either of these teams, and the Hurricanes would tie their score If They should win every game they play. However, two regulation wins would increase the Devils’ lead to 10 points over Carolina, putting them well behind New Jersey and Washington but still well above Pittsburgh.

However, if the Devils lost each of those games in regulation, Carolina would be just two points behind them with three games remaining. While I believe the Devils will ultimately prevail over Washington in the Metropolitan Division, given their current position, I would be shocked if Washington didn’t retake the lead at least a few times in a red-hot first half. However, if the Devils won these two games, I would be fairly confident that Carolina would not take over the Metro lead at any point for the rest of the season. They have gone just 11-10-1 since going 10-2 in games in the first month. They averaged 3.09 pro and cons goals per game, with special teams being the hottest and five-on-five results being less stellar.

Aging veterans

Carolina is still a dangerous team, but some of their supporting players are feeling the effects of age. Brent Burns scored just nine points in 34 games, a sign that the future Hall of Famer may have lost a few steps and may score fewer than 1,000 points in his career. He currently has 890 points from 1,449 games and will turn 40 in March. This is the final year of his contract and he will likely still have suitors if he decides to continue playing. He still has good five-on-five fundamentals and is still very strong on the penalty kill. Burns had 43 points last season and 61 in the 2022-23 season.

Former sticks

The Devils have several former Canes on their roster, including Dougie Hamilton, Brett Pesce, Stefan Noesen and Erik Haula, who spent time in Carolina. Pesce played 627 games in Carolina and this is the second time he will play against his former team. When the Devils last played Carolina on Nov. 21, both Noesen and Hamilton scored goals, with Noesen picking up two points in a 4-2 win. The Devils have yet to play their full roster against the Hurricanes in Carolina, as they lost in Raleigh on Oct. 15 while Pesce and Luke Hughes were still recovering from injuries.

The key to the game: eliminate Nečas and don’t underestimate Staal

Through 34 games, the Hurricanes have only two players with 20 or more even strength points: Sebastian Aho and Martin Nečas. Aho has 20 and Nečas has 25. For comparison: The Devils have six such players with Jesper Bratt (26), Jack Hughes (24), Timo Meier (21) and Nico Hischier (20). Only Jack Hughes has 20 power play points on the Devils, while Nečas leads Carolina with 19, closely followed by Shayne Gostisbehere with 18 total.

The Devils will have to take advantage of the Hurricanes’ experienced players tonight. Andrei Svechnikov has only been on the ice for 13 Carolina goals and 21 goals against in five-on-five play this year, while Sebastian Aho hasn’t fared much better with 20 goals against and 29 goals against. Even Nečas has suffered, as his attacking performance allowed him to break even with just 26 goals for and against. In fact, most of the positive edge for Carolina comes from Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook, whose team outscores their opponents nearly two to one and has a similarly impressive expected goal percentage. If the Devils want to minimize Jordan Staal’s impact tonight, this would be a good time for the Haula line to play some slow, possessive hockey to free up Nico Hischier to dominate the Aho line.

Your thoughts

What do you think of the game tonight? Will you watch or be there? What are you most looking forward to? Do you think the Devils can bury Carolina in the standings here? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and thanks for reading.