3 Takeaways From the Devils’ 4-2 Win Over the Hurricanes – The Hockey Writers New Jersey Devils Latest News, Analysis & More

The New Jersey Devils continued their series against the Carolina Hurricanes when they hosted the southern team on Dec. 27. While the series was tied after their first two meetings this season, the home team took the lead when they defeated the Hurricanes 4-2. All three games played in the series so far have ended in this score.

Markstrom Continues to Save Big

Jacob Markstrom had another fantastic game. After coming back from the holiday break, earning back-to-back shutouts right before it began, he continued to perform in great form.

The Hurricanes outshot the Devils 31 to 23 in this game. Markstrom only allowed two of those goals in, earning him a save percentage of .935. The visiting team clearly outplayed the Devils, but thanks to the goaltender in the net, that didn’t matter.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Markstrom’s shutout streak was broken by Brent Burns at 139:35. Although his streak was broken, this is still something to be celebrated. To be able to keep the opposing team from scoring for this long, that’s an incredible feat. He has been a strong goalie for the Devils throughout the entire season. His record shows this, winning 19 of the 27 games that he started so far this season, with three of those being shutout victories. 

Four Different Goal Scorers Got the Devils on the Board

Thanks to four different members of the Devils team, they were able to get on the board and continue to keep their lead in order to win the game. Ondrej Palat, Nico Hischier, Luke Hughes, and Dawson Mercer each scored a goal.

In the first period, it was Palat and Hischier’s time to shine. Six minutes after Burns’ goal put the Hurricanes on the board, Palat went to work. He passed the puck to Johnathan Kovacevic, who took a shot that was blocked. Palat was able to recover the rebound from in front of the net and score the first goal of the night for the Devils. The score was tied for only 42 seconds before Hischier scored to put the Devils in the lead. Stefan Noesen was able to get a breakaway with Hischier, and the Devils were on a 2-on-1. Noesen passed to the captain, who was able to score the second goal of the night less than a minute after the first. 

The second period was all about Luke and Mercer. Although the Hurricanes were able to tie it at the beginning of the second, this didn’t last long. Jesper Bratt had control of the puck, who passed to Brett Pesce. Pesce took a shot from the blue line, which Pytor Kochetkov was able to block. Luke managed to get control of the rebound, shooting from the front of the net and scoring the first goal of the second period to gain the lead for the Devils. 

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It was Mercer who was able to make sure the Devils took home the win on home ice. Jack Hughes took a shot at the net, which was once again blocked by Kochetkov. Mercer was able to recover the puck before the Carolina goalie had a chance to cover it. Taking the shot, he scored the fourth and final goal for the Devils this game.

A majority of these goals were scored on the rebound after Kochetkov blocked them. This would be something to keep in mind as the Devils gear up to face the Hurricanes in the second half of a back-to-back Hurricanes and Devils series. The Devils should make sure someone is in front of the net to catch the rebound. If they do this, the Devils will be in good standing to take the overall series.

Devils’ Fifth Consecutive Win at Home

Although the Devils lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 19, New Jersey is currently on a winning streak. The last five games they have hosted, they came away with the win. This streak began with their win against the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 12. 

In the middle of this home stretch, the Devils traveled to St. Louis to play the Blues and to Columbus. They were able to defeat the Blues but it was the Blue Jackets who took the win on their home ice. If it weren’t for this, the Devils would have been on a seven-game win streak overall. However, the home-ice winning streak is still intact. 

Seeing Double

The Devils will take on the Hurricanes once again in their next game on Dec. 29. This will be the last of the four matchups between the Devils and the Hurricanes this season. Will the score once again be 4-2?