And that is why the Carolina Hurricanes eliminated the New Jersey Devils in five games last spring.
The Devils walked into Hurricanes territory on Thursday to open their season. In the words of head coach Sheldon Keefe, the Devils were, “the second best team all night long.”
It’s an honest, and fair assessment of New Jersey, after they tied the game thrice, and fell behind each time.
READ MORE: Devils Surrender Tie Thrice, Hurricanes Suffocate; Drop Season Opener
Let’s talk takeaways.
Heavily Outworked
The Devils were heavily outworked in their season opener.
Keefe explained he knew it was a tough task to walk into the Lenovo Center and expect to outwork the opponent. The Hurricanes are the hardest working, tactical team in the NHL under the tutelage of Rod Brind’Amour. Thus, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Carolina regained their lead four times.
“It’s what you expect when you play Carolina in terms of the pressure and all that,” Keefe said. “It’s a tough assignment coming in here for their home opener. It’s a major about face from preseason to this.”
Still, it’s not like the Devils didn’t have their chances.
The second period was their best. At even strength, the Devils were on the positive side of a 7-6 scoring chance differential, and potted two goals in the middle frame.
Yet, in the first period, the Hurricanes out-chanced the Devils 13-3, and again in the third, 11-5. To make matters worse, the Devils were out-chanced 2-1 on their own power play.
The Devils simply couldn’t keep up with the forecheck. The Hurricanes were faster to pucks, stronger on walls, and won their puck battles. As a result, they struggled to slice through the neutral zone, and create on the rush, which is their bread and butter.
The Hurricanes are the Devils’ Kryptonite, and they’ll need to match their work ethic in the next meeting on January 4th.
Turnovers
Look, the Hurricanes certainly forced turnovers. However, the Devils made Carolina look even better than they were with an alarming 28 giveaways.
For as many good things as Jack Hughes does, he could also commit a crucial turnover, much like he did in the third period, that contributed to the Devils’ ultimate demise.
Plus, the Devils struggled to connect on passes. Their first pass out of the defensive end was stifled in the neutral zone plenty, they couldn’t get the puck across the blueline cleanly, and in the offensive zone, the cycle struggled to find consistency.
Yes, some of it was forced by the Hurricanes’ forecheck. Yet, a fair share was because the Devils gave the puck away too many times on Thursday night.
Luke’s First Game, a Mixed Bag
Lost in all this was the fact that this was Luke Hughes’ first game. It was for everyone else, too. However, they all played a full preseason, whereas, Luke didn’t.
On offense, he looked solid. There appeared to be no issue with his cardio, skating the third-most minutes at 20:46, behind only Jack and Brett Pesce.
Luke even looked fine as a distributor, tallying two assists and getting the puck on net twice.
But in the defensive zone, that’s where Luke struggled. The youngest Hughes brother labored to keep the game in front of him, which in the middle of the third caused him to take a slashing penalty.
The result?
K’Andre Miller scored the ‘Canes fourth goal, to take the lead and run away with the game.
It’ just Game 1. There’s no need to panic by any means at this point. But, it’s easy to imagine Luke being much stronger on Thursday had he been in training camp.
“I thought Luke looked like really good offensively, he made lots of plays,” Keefe said. “Playing your first game, to make it this one here in this building… It’s a tough assignment. For his first game, he made a difference offensively, but like a lot of our guys, you know, there’s lots to improve upon defensively.”
Jacob Markstrom Dwindled
In the first half of the game, the Devils were buoyed by a bevy of strong saves by Jacob Markstrom.
He made a handful (literally, with the glove) of saves that kept the Hurricanes from taking a bigger lead in the first two periods, which allowed the Devils to tie the game three times through two-plus periods.
However, as the pressure continued to be applied by the Hurricanes in the final frame, Markstrom began dwindling after Miller’s second goal of the game.
He was positioned fine, and got a piece of the Miller shot. However, it squeaked past him to give Carolina a 4-3 lead, and that’s when all bets were off.
The 35-year-old goaltender is playing for a new contract, and he’ll want to prove he can be a pillar for a full 60.
