The New Jersey Devils ended their season with a spirited Game Five defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes. (Note: So ends my series of adopting the New Jersey Devils.)
Dawson Mercer opened up scoring with what I think of as the platonic ideal of a 2023 Devils goal, a bunch of passes moving fast on the rush. Jaccob Slavin tied it early in the second period, possibly with a tip by Kotkaniemi or a Devil not to be named, then Timo Meier worked for a rebound in the crease to restore New Jersey’s lead, which vanished in the last minute of the second period, as Akira Schimd was screened from seeing Brent Burn’s outside shot.
In overtime, on the power play, Victor Fast ended the Devils’ season.
Carolina wins 3-2. They take the series in five games.
- Akira Schmid returned to the Devils net after a day and a half of uncertainty. I was worried Lindy Ruff would tap Mackenzie Blackwood, which would have been a bad idea.
- There were some big momentum shifts in this one. Jersey started strong for a few minutes early, but Carolina convincingly drove play for the rest of the first period and half of the second, when the Devils found their legs and took control – only to give up that late goal to Brent Burns.
- I can’t fault Schmid on the Burns goal. The goalie didn’t react at all, which I guess means the duel between Jonas Siegenthaler and Jordan Staal blinded him from seeing it.
Brent Burns has his second in as many games and we are tied once again. 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/UusSH4p130
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 12, 2023
- That goal was really deflating. The Devils had controlled almost 65 percent of expected goals in the second period and seemed to have finally figured out how to truck through the neutral zone without getting slogged down (the Mercer goal being a prime example), but then the Canes put one shot on net and got a little bit luck. That’s also how the Slavin goal happened: Not a particularly dangerous shot, but deflections and screens are like force multipliers.
- Timo Meier has had a punishing playoffs and had gone pointless through the first round. He arrived against the Canes, scoring New Jersey’s second goal of the game and nearly scoring their third in this wild play, ending with Jack Hughes getting knocked the hell over like it’s Jackass.
Oh no… 🫣 pic.twitter.com/Zz7SNRwaeR
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 12, 2023
- Halfway off-topic, but I appreciate PK Subban’s dad’s doomed effort to quash gambling ads.
- Quarterway off-topic, this being just a one-game suspension is ridiculous. DoPS is a joke in your town.
- The Devils’ top-six spent most of their time on the wrong side of the ice, so I want to point out one of their best performers: young Luke Hughes, who looks like the rookie he is, but a really good one who’s going have a good career. He was effectively on the top pairing and played 20 minutes through regulation. Meanwhile, the fourth line of Miles Wood, Curtis Lazar, and Nathan Bastian was great as well.
- I feel awful for my son, Jonas Siegenthaler, whose delay-of-game penalty put the Canes on the decisive power play.
And so I shift to Zelda mode. Zelda and player reviews. I have a lot of those to write.
Satori Mountain – Zelda Breath of the Wild pic.twitter.com/Y2GvGZ254k
— Pixel Jess (@pixeljess) May 11, 2023
The Devils had 63 standings points in 2021-22. They had 112 in 2022-23. They’re a team in ascendency, but it’ll have to wait until the fall. They were beaten by a plainly superior team. Carolina vs Florida will be a great series.
And so ends my experiment of adopting the Devils. Frankly, I thought they had more in them than I saw this postseason. If you’ve been reading this series, then you know what I think they should do this summer.
Thanks for reading!
Headline photo: @Canes
