We've already spoken a little about the postseason history of the Carolina Hurricanes and the New Jersey Devils, with their 2001 meeting in the conference quarterfinals. New Jersey prevailed in six games, but that's the only time the Devils have bested the Canes in the playoffs. Every other meeting has swung in the Canes' favor.
The Canes and the Devils fought for the Metropolitan Division crown in 2022-23. Carolina got the job done, beating out New Jersey by one point right at the end of the season. It meant that the Canes would control home ice in the event of a fifth all-time meeting in the playoffs. It almost didn't happen after the Devils' fight in the first round.
New Jersey was in a world of trouble after losing both games at home 5-1 to the New York Rangers. They recovered to win the next two games at Madison Square Garden and Game 5 at home. The Rangers forced a seventh game, but a 31-save shutout by Akira Schmid helped the Devils finish the job, setting them up to meet Carolina in the second round.
#21: The Hurricanes scored early and often to bury the Devils
It's hard to set the tone as well as the Hurricanes did in Game 1. The opening goal belonged to Brett Pesce. His shot, after Jordan Staal won the draw, flew through layers of traffic, giving Schmid no chance to pick it up. Seth Jarvis doubled the Canes' advantage, knocking down an attempted pass by Ryan Graves and flying the other way to finish a 2-on-1.
The Canes kept their skates on the gas. Less than two minutes into the second period, Jesperi Kotkaniemi finished Jordan Martinook's pass at the side of the net to give the Canes a commanding 3-0 lead. The Devils only had one shot at this point, but Nathan Bastian helped give them a little life. He snuck behind the Canes' defense and chipped his shot past Frederik Andersen.
New Jersey didn't serve as much of a threat the rest of the way. Brady Skjei got the goal back midway through the third with a one-timer past Vitek Vanecek, who'd taken over for Schmid after Kotkaniemi's goal, and Jesper Fast put one into the empty net. Each member of the Staal line (Staal, Martinook, Fast) had multiple points as the Canes earned a decisive 5-1 victory.
The Devils came out with a little more fire in Game 2. Neither side scored in the first period, though the Devils had plenty of chances. It was almost as if the Canes were playing with their food a little. They turned it on immediately at the start of the second period. Kotkaniemi scored twice in a little over two minutes to break the ice, and the rout was on.
Late in the second, the Canes added two more. Jordan Staal slid his breakaway chance around Schmid's outstretched pad, and Martin Necas finished a chaotic sequence by getting another goal with 15.1 seconds left in the period. The Canes held a commanding 4-0 lead after two periods, and it felt like there was no stopping them.
Miles Wood was the shutout spoiler early in the third, but Martinook's breakaway goal got it back. TNT's broadcast team made a point to say that the Devils had been in this spot before, having lost Games 1 and 2 to the Rangers 5-1. Right as they finished that thought, Stefan Noesen made it 6-1. The Canes looked like a runaway train, or so it seemed.
Even in defeat, the Canes made some history in New Jersey
Desperate for a way back into the series, the Devils took solace in their barn and their fans. If you're going to lose a game, I'm an advocate for losing as spectacularly as you can. That's what the Canes did in Game 3. New Jersey blitzed them for three goals in the first period, and Nico Hischier chased Andersen by scoring 53 seconds into the second period, giving way for Pyotr Kochetkov.
Sebastian Aho got the Canes on the board after the switch, though every time the Canes did something good, a New Jersey goal followed. Damon Severson made it 5-1 after spinning away from Kotkaniemi's pressure along the boards. Even in a lopsided game like this, we got some fun moments. Martinook earned a penalty shot while short-handed and buried it to give the Canes a little life.
The Devils scored twice more early in the third, so we knew it was well out of reach by then. However, we still got a little history. Staal and Jarvis scored short-handed goals on consecutive penalties 50 seconds apart, making the Canes the fourth team in NHL history with three short-handed goals in one game and becoming the first to do so in 40 years. New Jersey won 8-4, but it's still a cool stat.
Game 3 proved to be a blip on the radar because Game 4 was another Carolina rout. Jack Hughes scored the opening goal, but it was all Hurricanes from there. Necas tied the game late in the first period. Then, he got another in the second to kickstart the fastest four goals in franchise history. Necas, Pesce, Fast, and Brent Burns scored in 5:20, and Martinook added another in a 6-1 win.
Game 5 was the only close game of the series
If you were looking for a competitive hockey game, you had to wait until Game 5 in Raleigh. It was the only game that never featured a multi-goal lead, and it saw the Canes fight back from a pair of deficits. Dawson Mercer put the Devils on the board with the only goal of the first period, but Jaccob Slavin scored 50 seconds into the second to knot it up.
Timo Meier restored New Jersey's lead on the power play before the midway point in the middle frame. Andersen made the initial stop, but the rebound fell right in Meier's lap. They got one early in the period, so the Canes had to get one late, too. Burns let one go from the half wall, and it found its way home, tying the game with 38 seconds left in the second.
With no victor after 60 minutes, the series required overtime for the first time. It all came down to a delay-of-game penalty by Jonas Siegenthaler. He threw the puck over the glass, putting the Canes on the power play. Kotkaniemi took the shot, and Fast's pants did the rest. The puck deflected off his leg and into the net, sending the Canes to the Eastern Conference Finals.
ESPN's Sean McDonough made a comment in Game 4 about Jordan Martinook looking almost like Wayne Gretzky in the series. In Martinook's defense, he was making it look super easy. Martinook tied the franchise record for points in a series with ten. He had multiple points in the first four games, including three in Game 4, and reached it quicker than both Bates Battaglia and Cory Stillman.
This was dominance in every sense of the word for Carolina. They looked like they had something to prove after consecutive losses in the second round to Tampa Bay and New York. They let the Devils up to breathe a little in Game 3, but it was almost all Carolina the rest of the way. Despite his rough start in Game 4, Frederik Andersen finished with a respectable .918 save percentage and a 2.01 GAA.
However, because of how one-sided this series was, I can't help but place it a little lower on the list. The better series in franchise history are the ones with more of a story to tell. The only story that this one told was of dominance. At least it was one where the Hurricanes were the superior team. We've seen some very one-sided losses, so this was a nice change of pace.
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