It was a long night in Newark.
A game which the New Jersey Devils dominated all night began slipping away from them in the early third period. Seth Jarvis opened the scoring for the team down south, followed by Sebastian Aho’s goal with a gimme from Andrei Svechnikov’s stick. Bringing the game to a tie, overtime commenced. It was a situation remembered all too well for both the Hurricanes and ex-Hurricanes on the ice. The memories of the quadruple overtime played against the Florida Panthers nagged on the back of the minds of those on the ice, above the ice, and glued to their television sets. Thank the Lord, Friday night was different than that morning two years ago.
New Jersey Devils Earn First Win of Series Versus Carolina Hurricanes in Double Overtime
Double overtime, folks. The game lasted an extra 22 minutes and 36 seconds before it was put to bed. The man who kissed that puck goodnight was Simon Nemec, who tucked it into Frederik Andersen’s net. Rows of tired fans in the stands went wild as the home team pulled a much-needed win. The unlikely bonus hockey hero for New Jersey was scratched in the first game of the series. But after both Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon wound up out of the lineup due to injury, the 2022 second-overall pick was called into action, getting his first taste of Stanley Cup Playoffs Hockey. Friday’s game added a bit of extra icing to the cake for the rookie defenceman. The game-winning double overtime goal was the first in his postseason career.
Double overtime play, while as exhilarating (and terrifying) as it can be, it is exhausting. It takes it out of everyone on the ice. Of course, exhaustion from extra frames can deeply factor into future games in this run for the Cup. Management of ice time to prevent fatigue is key in situations such as this.
The Hurricanes handled ice time management exceptionally. Well distributed up and down the lineup, only Jaccob Slavin crossed the 30-minute mark. However, the Devils may have opened a can of worms for themselves. Throughout the game, they pushed three defencemen and two forwards over 30 minutes. The added wear and tear to their top dogs—Nico Hischier (30:39), Timo Meier (30:28), Brett Pesce (32:30), Dougie Hamilton (31:16), and Brian Dumoulin (36:24)—could spell trouble for their upcoming outings if they are unable to recharge in the short 39 hours between the final horn and puck drop.
Carolina Hurricanes vs New Jersey Devils First Round Series Preview
No Friends Here
“There is a lot of familiarity, there are friendships between these two teams”, FanDuel Sports Network Analyst Tripp Tracy stated during a recent pregame. “There has been zero communication from one side of the red line to the other. So that’s a difference from a regular season game, and a significant one.”
Physicality has been one of the biggest components of this series. It has featured an astounding 257 combined hits in just three games played—the Devils leading with 56.8% of the thunderous blows. The hit counter for New Jersey is not surprising, considering they finished the regular season tenth in the league in hits with 1,929. But Carolina, who doesn’t often play an especially physical game, has lit it up, registering no less than 30 hits a night. One can’t help but wonder if the aforementioned familiarity with opponents brings a little more harshness to the series. As Agatha Christie penned in The Mysterious Affair at Styles, “Every murderer is probably somebody’s old friend.”
I think we just found @LASIKdotcom a customer#RaiseUp #NHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/oFl3ubiBxZ
— Queen of the Puck (@rbarkleyhockey) April 20, 2025
Last Word on This Story
With the ferocity of each team and the speed at which the games can shift, the series could go to either the Carolina Hurricanes or the New Jersey Devils. Though Carolina has the home-ice advantage overall in the series, and have been beasts in their building, they should be careful not to spark life into their longtime playoff rivals.
There has been no shortage of entertainment in the first-round, as chronicled by the team here at Last Word on Hockey. The Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars have been especially interesting, as have the games between the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings. The Minnesota Wild are exceeding expectations and the Toronto Maple Leafs are waging freakin’ war in the “Battle of Ontario”.
Main Photo: Ed Mulholland- Imagn Images
