Playoff Game Preview #4: New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes

Following a thrilling 2OT win in Game 3, the Devils look to even their first round series at two games apiece today in Newark

The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (1-2) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (2-1)

The Time: 3:30pm ET

The Broadcast: MSGSN, TBS, TRUTV, MAX, SN360, TVAS 2, Devils Radio Network

The Series Preview: For a complete breakdown of this series and more in-depth information, check out John’s Playoff Series Preview.

Next Man Up

The Devils’ blueline was a sentient injury long before Game 3, and somehow it got even worse. Johnny Kovacevic was only able to play one period on Friday, leaving after the opening frame with an undisclosed injury. The most recent update we got on his status was…well, not really much of an update at all:

Also in that tweet above is confirmation that both Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon will each miss their third straight game.

I understand that the ethos of “Next Man Up” runs deep in all sports, but this is getting ridiculous. Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler returned from their respective injuries before they were fully ready, Brett Pesce is at less than 100% himself, and both Hughes and Dillon are still out with their own ailments. The only seemingly healthy members of the defense corps are Game 3 hero Simon Nemec, Brian Dumoulin (who led the team in ice time on Friday with a whopping 36:24), and healthy scratch regulars Seamus Casey and Dennis Cholowski. We as sports fans have been conditioned to never accept excuses for losing, but if the Devils do end up losing this series, I really don’t think it’s irrational to place a big part of the blame on the ludicrous amount of injuries they’ve endured.

In any case, if Kovacevic can’t go today, my guess would be Cholowski gets the call over Casey. Unlike Casey, Cholowski has actually played in this series, skating in the Game 2 loss. Plus Cholowski is a lefty and Casey is a righty, and with the Devils having played Game 3 imbalanced on the blueline in the first place (four righties, two lefties), I expect Keefe to go with the move that brings balance back to the unit.

What About The Forwards?

Not much to report there. With the obvious exception of Jack Hughes, the Devils forwards are relatively healthy. At least as healthy as you could be this time of year. Keefe gave his team a well-deserved day off yesterday, so we didn’t get a look at any potential lines for Game 4. I would expect things to stay the same coming into this afternoon’s matchup.

The Streak Lives

This is a fun little stat that the Devils and their fans can hang their hats on:

You can also add Seattle and Utah to this list. But Seattle has been around for less than half a decade and has played only two postseason series in their franchise’s history, and Utah is technically in their first season of existence and missed the playoffs.

Now, this stat is a bit of a cheat because this only counts the New Jersey Devils part of the franchise’s history. In the 1977-78 season, the Colorado Rockies were “swept” in the then best-of-three Preliminary Round by the Philadelphia Flyers. But even so, this is a pretty incredible mark. To have never been swept in this incarnation of the franchise, and only once in 50 total seasons of existence is pretty special. And thanks to their dramatic Game 3 win, the streak will survive at least into the franchise’s 51st season.

Carolina Counterpunch

The Hurricanes, very much unlike the Devils, are a very healthy team right now. Must be nice. So don’t expect many changes to their lineup, if any at all:

Despite that quote though, in his most recent article, Hurricanes beat reporter Cory Lavalette mentioned that the only real change Rod Brind’Amour might be considering is playing trade deadline acquisition Mark Jankowski, who could provide depth and help on the penalty kill. Otherwise, except roughly the same lineup, along with Frederik Andersen once again getting the start in net for Carolina.

Unless…

On The Horizon?

There is one wildcard when it comes to Carolina’s lineup. His name is Alexander Nikishin, and his debut might be coming soon:

The Russian defenseman is one of the most highly regarded prospects in the game today. He’s been tearing it up in the KHL over the past few seasons, and now the Hurricanes appear poised to bring him over. It would be quite the bold move to throw him into the deep end of the NHL playoffs right away, but it would be far from unprecedented. In 2019, Cale Makar played his first game at the NHL level in the postseason for the Avalanche, and in fact he scored a goal in his debut game. The Wild are doing the same thing with top defense prospect Zeev Buium this postseason. And while it’s not exactly the same, Luke Hughes only played a couple of games in the 2022-23 regular season before playing in the second round against the Hurricanes when he made the jump to the NHL.

So will we see Nikishin at some point in the series now that he’s under contract? Here’s my best guess: Only if Carolina faces elimination at any point. I don’t think Brind’Amour would throw that big of a curveball at his team unless he feels as though he REALLY needs to, so I personally don’t anticipate seeing Nikishin over the next couple games. If you disagree, feel free to let me know in the comments.

Looking Ahead

One note for the near future: Now that we will officially have a Game 5 in this series, we have an official puck drop time:

Plan accordingly.

Your Take

What are you expecting from today’s game? If Kovacevic can’t play, would you rather see Cholowski or Casey? What do you expect out of Carolina today? As always, thanks for reading!