On Sunday, April 20, the New Jersey Devils faced the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The game took place at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. The game began at 3 p.m. with Jacob Markstrom starting in goal for the Devils against Canes goalie Frederik Andersen.
The Devils fell to the Hurricanes 4-1, starting off their quest for the Stanley Cup on the wrong foot.
The Carolina Hurricanes opened up the scoring of the first period, two minutes and 24 seconds in. Jalen Chatfield with a snap shot, assisted by William Carrier.
Jalen Chatfield was the only goal scorer of the first period. Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 16 saves to open the playoff matchup. Devils captain Nico Hischier’s line came out strong and present, playing a great shift, one of the best actually. Concluding the first period with shots on goal of 17-5 in favor of Carolina.
As the second period commenced, six minutes in, the Canes scored for the second time. Logan Stankoven with a snapshot on the Devils net, putting the Canes up 2-0. Devils defenseman, Brenden Dillon struggled getting up after a hit by William Carrier, he was helped off the ice by the athletic trainer and Nate Bastian and escorted to the locker room. At 13:08 in the second period, Logan Stankoven found the back of Devils net once again, putting the Canes up 3-0 over the Devils.
The Canes and the Devils went four-on-four as Timo Meier received a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct and Canes player, Shayne Gostisbehere with a two-minute minor for roughing as well. Just nearly two minutes left in the second period, Devils Captain Nico Hischier scored on the four-on-four putting the Devils up on the board. Hischier with the snipe, earning the Devils their only goal of the afternoon. The second period concluded with the Canes leading 38-13 in shots on goal and 3-1 on the scoreboard.
During the final period of Game 1, the Devils were focused and got back on track after the second period, but it was too late. The team faced more adversity than ever during this game trying to grab an advantage over the opposing Canes. The hardest part was making a play in which they had to face the Canes goalie, Andersen. Coming back out strong, the team returned with force looking to make a play and follow with a comeback.
With 11 forwards and five defenseman, since Brenden Dillon did not return to the lineup at the beginning of the third period (with no current update as of April 20), the Devils needed to strategize. Although, with roughly 10 minutes remaining in the third, the Devils went down to four defenseman as Luke Hughes got hurt (upper body). Hughes was forced into the back of Markstroms net and struggled to get up—He directed himself to the Devils bench. Hughes shortly returned after the incident with two minutes remaining in the third, playing the rest of his shift.
This gave back the Devils another defenseman to finish the game with. Devils Center, Cody Glass had to be helped off the ice around the same time as Luke Hughes upper body incident as Glass got clipped (lower body) by Jacob Markstrom as he was trying to clear the net from Canes forward, Andrei Svechnikov. Cody Glass headed to the Devils locker room, hurting his knee. Glass did not appear back for the rest of the third period and there is no further update. Jacob Markstrom did his best to stop 45 shots on goal. Unfortunately, the Canes scored their final goal of the game, winning 4-1 on an empty-netter, despite the Devils efforts.
The New Jersey Devils will meet with the Carolina Hurricanes for Game 2 at the Lenovo Center for a 6 p.m. puck drop on Tuesday, April 22.
