The Devils rode a fast start and a spirited effort to a dramatic win in game three, but a disastrous start 36 hours later put them on the brink of elimination.
New Jersey allowed goals in the opening minutes of the first two frames, both by Andrei Schvechnikov, to send the favored Hurricanes on their way to a 5-2 win and a 3-1 series lead with game five on deck in Raleigh Tuesday night.
The Devils fell in an early 3-0 hole before fighting back to make it a 3-2 game with Carolina’s backup goalie in net following an injury to Frederik Andersen, but the Canes toned down New Jersey’s momentum and scored two goals late in the third to put the game out of reach and send the fans to the exits, potentially for the final time this season.
Once again, special teams was a struggle for the Devils, as their typically strong power play was stymied by Carolina’s elite penalty kill, stopping New Jersey on both of its power play attempts, making the Devils 0-12 on the man advantage in this series.
The shorthanded Devils were looking to build on the momentum of Friday night’s double overtime thriller, but the Hurricanes responded with a statement that has them on the cusp of eliminating New Jersey from the postseason for the second time in three years.
Less than a minute into the first, after a hustle play by Ondrej Palat nearly resulted in a goal on a deflection that would have blown the roof off the Prudential Center, the Canes quickly turned the pressure to the other end, where a seemingly innocent turnaround shot by Schvechnikov from the top of the circle got past Jacob Markstrom, who likely wanted that one back after being a rock in net for the entire series up to that point.
The troubles continued for New Jersey, as its fatigued group looked to finally be freed from a relentless fit of pressure from Carolina, but Stefan Noesen’s attempt to flick the puck out of the zone was batted out of the air by Jacob Slavin, who moved past Noesen and fired a pinpoint sharp angle shot over Markstrom’s shoulders to double the Hurricanes lead.
The unassisted effort by Slavin came as his teammates were well behind him executing a line change, but the Devils weren’t able to finish the job and clear the zone.
New Jersey had chances to get back into the game before the first intermission, but a goal was waved off after Cody Glass had been whistled offsides, and a power play minutes later generated just one shot.
When another strong start was needed, the Devils managed just four shots on goal in the first 20 minutes of play.
The start to the second period was no better, as special teams continued to haunt New Jersey. A bad interference penalty on Dougie Hamilton at the close of the first left just over a minute of power play time for Carolina to begin the second, and they cashed in courtesy of Schvechnikov.
After the packed crowd in Newark rewarded the Devils for their spirited effort in game three with constant raucous applause, they sent down some audible boos after the third goal.
Those boos quickly turned back to cheers as New Jersey got on the board moments later when a centering pass from Timo Meier bounced right into the lap of Nico Hischier, who banged home his third goal of the series to make it 3-1. A scoring chance from the Devils soon after turned into a scary moment for Andersen, who was bumped by Meier as he tried to tap home feed from Hischier. Andersen went down in his own net and left for the locker room, and after review, no penalty was assessed to Meier, who was in danger of putting the Devils in a precarious spot after being assessed a five minute major.
Meier not only avoided the penalty box, he pulled New Jersey to within one with 12:26 remaining in the second period, putting a low shot past backup goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov on a spinning shot from along the half wall, one that Andersen perhaps stops had he been between the pipes.
New Jersey continued to fight for the equalizer, but the Canes delivered the knockout punch with six minutes to go in the third, as a shot from Brent Burns that Markstrom tried to suffocate under his leg pads squeaked through to make it 4-2. Markstrom pleaded with the official that he had held it for a faceoff, but to no avail.
An empty netter from Schvechnikov moments later gave him the hat trick and left no more room for error for the Devils in this first-round series.