Tuesday night, April 22, the New Jersey Devils came back to the Carolina Hurricanes home ice for Game 2 in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The game began at 6 p.m. with Jacob Markstrom in net, and after a rough 4-1 loss against the Hurricanes to start the series, New Jersey looked for a win to tie the series up. They would be unable to find it though as even with a tremendous effort, they still lost to the Hurricanes 3-1.
The Devils opened up the scoring for the game with Jesper Bratt striking 4 minutes in to put New Jersey ahead for the first time in the series. He’d be assisted by Erik Haula and Dougie Hamilton. New Jersey would be able to gain momentum from Bratt’s goal, and they’d continue to pressure the Canes consistently. Time would run out though and Jesper Bratt would stand as the lone scorer for the first period.
As the second period commenced Carolina would start to apply pressure onto the Devils, and after spending a minute in the offensive zone Shayne Gostisbehere would be the one to light the lamp for the Hurricanes to tie the game for them at 1-1. Gostisbehere would be assisted by Sebastian Aho and Jackson Blake. Only 3 minutes later Carolina would repeat and Jordan Martinook would score a shorthanded goal from Dmitry Orlov, putting the Hurricanes up 2-1. It was apparent that the Devils were starting to lose momentum by now. Then, the second period would conclude with the Canes leading 2-1.
A bright spot throughout the first and second period was Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who faced 18 shots between the two periods and only allowed 2 to be let in. Markstrom was able to stay poised and calm throughout the periods and game.
During the final period of the game, New Jersey was able to push the Hurricanes and spend some time in their zone. The Devils would then be given a power-play from a tripping call on Jordan Staal, but they would fail to find the back of the net and soon contracted a tripping penalty of their own. Even with attempt after attempt to tie the game and keep the Hurricanes out of their zone, New Jersey would fail and Seth Jarvis would score an empty net goal from Jordan Martinook to seal the Devils defeat and a 3-1 Canes victory.
This game was definitely an upgrade from Game 1, as New Jersey was able to score first, play with more emotion and need, and spend more time in their offensive zone, but they still lacked in many areas of play that if played strongly, would have helped them. Now with the Devils being down 0-2 in the series, they need to find a way to win Game 3 if they want a chance to stay in the series.
Game 3 will be played Friday, April 25, back in New Jersey’s home, Prudential Center at 8 p.m.
