Playoff Preview: Devils vs Hurricanes
It's the final preview of the 2nd round! With it, we look at the two best in the Metro, the Hurricanes in the Devils, who each handled their New York opponents in round one.
This series is going to be fun. The Canes played 6 extremely hard fought games where they came out on top versus an Islanders team that many (including me) expected to make an upset happen. They relatively outplayed the Isles at their game, and managed to get the amount of goals they needed on Sorokin to propel them through. Their PK was fantastic, but part of that had to also do with the terrible-ness that was the Islander Power Play. As for the Devils, they had a tough series as well. The Rangers put up a great fight, including winning the first two games and making the Devils look extremely inexperienced. But, they rebounded, starting rookie tendy Akira Schmid in game 3, and then went on to win the next 3 games, including 2 at MSG. They lost game 6 but came out strong and dominated play in game 7, picking up a 4-0 series clinching victory.
These two teams were the two highest in xG% for a reason. Both offenses were absolutely explosive. For the Canes, they would have issues finishing, and that was still the case for much of the series versus the Islanders. Sebastian Aho stepped up in the series, but he was truly the only one. His 4 goals and 7 points led the Canes, with the next forward only having 4 points. Against the Devils, they need more production. Unfortunately for the Canes, they are without Teuvo Teraveinen for the rest of the playoffs, and that compounded with the loss of Svech that they have known since before game 1 of the playoffs. Jack Drury, a key depth piece, is also not 100% but still expected to return for game 1. These injuries make things harder on an already tough to finish forward core. For the defensive side of the ice, the Canes have a really nice strong suit. Their defense all series looked fantastic, shutting down the Isles stars for a majority of the series. Guys like Jalen Chatfield had incredible defensive series' against the Islanders, with Chatfield pointed out because he had an incredible 1.4 On-Ice HD SCA p60, which was incredibly impressive and made him a top 10 starting defender in the NHL in round one. As for between the pipes, Annti Raanta started for 5 games, but Freddie Andersen took over in Game 6, having an incredible clinching game, and punching his likely ticket to be the game one starter against the Devils. If he can put on good performances in this series, the Canes defense mixed with him could neutralize the Devils and make this look like a repeat of Round One.
For the Devils, there was a lot to like and a lot to dislike from that Round One series. On one hand, their offense looked anemic at points. But, their defense kept the Rangers at bay and made the Rangers look HORRIBLE on offense. The Rangers in game 5 and 7 had some of the worst offensive games I have ever seen in a key playoff game (game 5 or later). Part of this has to do with the incredible heroics on defense. Jonas Siegenthaller and Dougie Hamilton had better defensive metrics than Jalen Chatfield, who I just praised for having an incredible statline. John Marino also had a really solid series, and it's just really impressive how much this defense did. Yes, the Rangers should have done better. But some credit has to be given to the defense of this Devils team. Similarly, praise must be given to Akira Schmid. He came in when this series looked over. It was 2-0 Rangers headed back to MSG, but he comes in, and he has an incredible end to the series. If it weren't for his opponent, Igor Shesterkin, who had an even better series by keeping this rough Rangers team in the series time and time again, Schmid would have been the best goalie of Round One. In his 5 games, he put up a 4.5 GSAx (Igor had 8.8) and a .951 SV%. If this defense and goaltending core can continue neutralizing offenses, this Devils team is making a run. And the Canes offense shows no signs of looking any better than New York, so truly, this Devils team has built something special. And this is all without even touching on the offensive side of the game.
The Devils offense had a strange series. Erik Haula's 4 goals and 6 points led the team, and most notably, Timo Meier tallied absolutely no points. This is extremely concerning going into a series against a really solid defense, and this series between two dynamic offenses could turn into a defensive slugfest. It's really truly beautiful in a way. Still though, guys like Hughes and Bratt looked really good even though they didn't put up the big numbers. If Timo Meier can get going, this team will really start to look even more dominant. They acquired him at the deadline for a reason, now they need to show it.
Prediction: Devils in 6
Season Series: 2-2
This series will be really fun to watch, for reasons you might not expect when you look at these teams. It should be high scoring and fun, but in reality, I think these games will be low scoring and resemble the two series these two teams just finished. Neither side's offense impressed me against the New York teams, and the defenses were actually incredible. This series though will come down to starpower. Which side's stars will wake up first? Will it be Carolina with Aho and Jarvis and co., or will it be the Devils with Hughes, Meier, and Hischier? I like the Devils odds there. I also think Akira Schmid is going to continue looking like Martin Brodeuer pt 2, and the Devils are my new favorite to make it to the cup finals from the east this year. I'm excited to watch this and every other round two series!
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