Advantage 1: The Devils' injuries
The Carolina Hurricanes are fortunate to enter the playoffs without any injuries to their current roster. The New Jersey Devils are entering the postseason with injuries to multiple key contributors in their lineup, including superstar forward Jack Hughes, one of the best young players in the NHL.
Hughes has been out since March 2nd and will not return this season for New Jersey after completing shoulder surgery. Before then, Hughes had produced 70 points in 62 games until his season ended. Despite missing the past six weeks, Hughes is still second on their roster in point scoring behind Jesper Bratt, who has played 19 more games.
Another one of the Devils' Top 6 forwards, Ondrej Palat, has missed the past few games, and it is unknown when he will return to their lineup. Meanwhile, both of their top-pairing defenseman have also been injured. Former Hurricane Dougie Hamilton just returned from injury. Jonas Seigenthaler has not played since February 4th after being put on LTIR, and it is unknown if he will return to the ice this season. Hamilton is +8 and Seigenthaler is +9 in the regular season and play critical minutes for New Jersey.
These holes in the lineup add pressure to players like Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Brett Pesce, and Luke Hughes to shoulder the load at the top of their lineup. It also forces typical depth players to play large roles on the ice, which, as a side effect, thins out the bottom half of their depth.