Canes-Devils Series Preview.

2M Carolina vs New Jersey 3M

We are back with our Playoff previews here on the ETEH Blog, so today we are staring with the 1st Series that was locked in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, as we're going to be looking at the Carolina Hurricanes and the New Jersey Devils, as the Hurricanes had a decent year getting 2nd in the Metro and finish just behind Washington and they're taking on the 3rd team in the Metro in New Jersey who just made a playoff spot this year and are limping into the playoffs. 

History of Rivalry Between teams in playoffs:

So this will be a intriguing playoff series as it is the 6th time these two teams have faced in the playoffs before, now the Devils won the 1st ever playoff series these two teams played against each other back in 2001 but since then the Hurricanes have had their number as in the 4 following playoff series they had the Hurricanes won all of them back in 02, 06, 09 and the most recent one back in 2023 in RD 2 and in each year the Canes beat the Devils in the playoffs they at least got to the Confrence Final, so the Canes do lead the playoff series matchup 4-1 against ew Jersey but we will have to see if Jersey can finally break through.

Season Series Record: 

Carolina 2-2-0 13-12+1

New Jersey 2-2-0 12-13-1

James Guillory Imagn Images

Each teams X-Factors: Jankowski vs Hamilton

Next we go over to the two teams X-Factors in my opinion for this series and the two X-Factors in my eyes are the deadline add in Carolina of Jankowski and inured defender Dougie Hamilton in Carolina, now I think Jankowski may be the biggest X-Factor on the Hurricanes because of how well he has fit in since being acquired at the deadline from Nashville, as he has been one of the Canes scoring leaders since joining them and if he keeps this up entering the playoffs then that scoring element in their bottom six may win them this series, while for the Devils the X-Factor has to be the currently injured Dougie Hamilton, as his impact on the Devils blueline is not a small one and really makes that blueline very different, so if he is healthy and ready to go come playoff time I like the Devils chances but if he remains out then this might be a short series.

Which teams are best at 3 Positions:

Offense: at the offensive side throughout the year when I made playoff predictions I said the Devils probably had the better offense, but now that Jack Hughes is out and Jankowski and Stankoven are playing the way they are, I would say the Hurricanes have the better offense as top to bottom they have 4 lethal lines that can tear a opponent apart so I would give the offensive edge to the Canes.

Defence: when you look at these two defence’s they actually stack up quite similar to each other when healthy but with the banged up Devils blueline is Hamilton and Siegenthaler question marks, I would say the Canes have the massive advantage right now defensively and even if those two were healthy I would say the Canes have the better blueline as with guys like Orlov, Slavinand Burns that is a blueline that would be tough to beat.

Darren Yamashita Imagn Images

Goaltending: now goaltending wise I think the answer here is pretty clear as even though Andersen is a good goalie and has had some pretty decent playoff runs in his career, I think Markstrom is still a top 5-10 goalie in the NHL and has been the backbone all year long for the Devils and I believe gives Jersey the advantage in Net.

Biggest on Ice Matchup: Markstrom vs Canes forward group

Now in my opinion the biggest matchup between the Devils and Canes in this series will be the potent Canes offense squaring off against Devils goalie Jaccob Markstrom, now Markstrom has been a fantastic goalie since arriving in New Jersey and even though he suffered a injury earlier he has looked poised and has been the starter this Devils team needed, while for Carolina even though they don’t have Necas or Rantanen now that they moved him, this team is still stacked with offensive weapons such as Aho, Svechnikov, Carrier, Jarvis, Staal and new adds Stankoven and Jankowski, so I feel whoever wins this battle will help their team win the series as I feel if Markstrom stands on his head the Devils should win, but if the Canes offense is clicking I like there chances so we will have to watch and find out.

Predictions:

So to finish up this series I will give my predictions as to who will take home the series, now earlier in the year if you had asked me who would win this series I would’ve said Jersey because earlier Jersey was my Cup favourites, but now with the Hughes, Sieganthaler and Hamilton injuries I feel this Devils team just doesn’t have the firepower to bring down this very well balanced Canes team, so at this point I am going to say the Hurricanes win this series in 5, I feel that if Hamilton does return at some point then maybe it will be a 6 game series instead, but for now with the way things sit, I am definitely picking the Canes to advance to RD 2 quite simply.