Hurricanes smother Devils, win Game 1 of second-round NHL playoff series at PNC Arena

The Carolina Hurricanes used a near-flawless start to get an early jump on the New Jersey Devils and rode it to a 5-1 victory Wednesday in Game 1 of the second-round playoff series.

The Canes completely smothered the Devils in the first period, getting goals from Brett Pesce and Seth Jarvis while allowing New Jersey one shot — a 70-foot flip from the neutral zone.

The Hurricanes knocked goalie Akira Schmid, the surprise hero of New Jersey’s series win over the Rangers, out of the game early in the second. But the Devils, flat in the first, were feisty in the second, picking up a goal from Nathan Bastian and pushing back after Schmid’s exit.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored for Cariolina in the second and then Brady Skjei in the third for a 4-1 lead. Jesper Fast finished it off for the Canes with an empty-net goal.

Goalie Frederik Andersen, given the start in Game 1 by Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour, followed up his series-clinching win over the Islanders with another quality start and victory.

Game 2 will be played Friday at PNC Arena, with an 8 p.m. start.

Takeaways from Game 1

▪ Whatever Brind’Amour’s pregame best-case scenario was for the first period, the Canes somehow topped the coach’s plan. Holding New Jersey to one shot? That’s all the Devils and that was a 70-foot neutral-zone flip by Nathan Bastian down to Andersen.

A dominant period? The Canes had 29 total shot attempts to the Devils’ 7.

Bastian also had the Devils’ second shot of the game. It was a lot closer and much better: Bastian flipping the puck past Andersen as he drove the net, his first point of the playoffs.

▪ For all the talk about the Devils having an edge in speed and quickness, the Canes’ Seth Jarvis looked like the fastest guy on the ice in the second period. Forcing a turnover near the Carolina blue line, Jarvis blew down the right wing and past defenseman Ryan Graves to beat Schmid to the glove side for his third goal of the playoffs.

▪ Jordan Staal was running hot in the third period after a hit from behind from the Devils’ Ondrej Palat behind the Canes net. Staal crashed into the glass and fell to the ice, but he was soon back on his feet and barking at the referees as he headed to the bench. The Canes captain was soon back in the game.

▪ Schmid made an early exit Wednesday — two minutes into the second — but one has to think Devils coach Lindy Ruff might go back to the rookie in Game 2. The Rangers beat him 5-2 and Ruff went with him in Game 7, with the season on the line, The result: a 4-0 shutout with 31 saves.

▪ The Devils’ Jack Hughes had the puck a lot in the first two periods but the Canes kept him muzzled — Hughes did not have a shot in the first 20 minutes. He took a big hit from Staal in the neutral zone in the second period, crashing to the ice, and a stick in the mouth — a penalty not called, much to his disgust.

Hughes’ best shot came with 14:34 left in the third, Andersen making a glove save.

▪ The Devils were without forward Timo Meier, who Ruff said would be a game-time decision but may have never been in the Devils’ plans in Game 1. There had to be some repercussions from the massive open-ice hit Meier took from the Rangers’ Jacob Trouba in Game 7.

Not a lot of empathy, though, from the Canes, who are playing with forward Teuvo Teravainen, injured against the Islanders. And that on top of losing Andrei Svechnikov late in the regular season.

Andersen gets the start

The guessing game is over.

It was goalie Frederik Andersen in net for the Carolina Hurricanes as the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs began Wednesday against the New Jersey Devils at PNC Arena.

Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour had been coy this week when asked about his starting goalie for Game 1, saying he would have some “fun” with the media and keep everybody guessing until the pregame warmup. The Canes did not have a morning skate Wednesday.

Antti Raanta started the first five games of the first round against the New York Islanders as Andersen dealt with an undisclosed illness and then an injury. Andersen made his first playoff appearance with the Hurricanes in Game 6, stopping 33 of 34 shots in the Canes’ series-clinching 2-1 overtime victory.

Raanta won three games in the series but was the losing goalie in Game 5 as the Islanders won 3-2 at PNC Arena.

The Hurricanes went out for warm-ups with the same lines from Tuesday’s practice, vastly different from anything they lined up with in the first-round series against the New York Islanders: Sebastian Aho between Stefan Noesen and Seth Jarvis, Jesperi Kotkaniemi between Jordan Martinook and Jesper Fast, Jordan Staal between Jack Drury and Martin Necas and Paul Stastny between Derek Stepan and Jesse Puljujarvi.

That left Game 4 hero Mackenzie MacEachern out of the lineup, although his blend of size and speed may prove more valuable on the road anyway.

The defensive pairings remained the same, with Dylan Coghlan taking warm-ups as a healthy extra.

Dougie digging it

Dougie Hamilton was there at the beginning, his arrival in the summer of 2018 one of the big pieces that propelled the Hurricanes back into the playoffs the next spring. All told, he won 17 playoff games in three seasons with the Hurricanes, and saw what PNC Arena could be at its best, both before and after the pandemic.

Now, as the Devils’ power-play triggerman, he’ll get to see what it’s like as a visitor.

“I guess we’ll see.,” Hamilton said “It’s a great crowd. Fans are awesome. Lot of fun to play here as a home guy. Like I said, we’ll see what it’s like on the other side tonight.”

Meier out

Devils coach Lindy Ruff said earlier Wednesday winger Timo Meier, the Devils’ big trade-deadline acquisition from the San Jose Sharks, was a game-time decision for Game 1.

Meier was seen entering PNC Arena long after his team Wednesday night and did not take the ice for warmups with his team. He is officially listed by the NHL as a scratch.

Meier was clobbered with a hard hit by New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba with the Devils leading 2-0 in their eventual 4-0 win in Game 7 on Monday. Meier returned the ice for the handshake line and took part in the Devils’ pregame skate Wednesday morning wearing a new full-face shield.

“It will depend on how he feels,” Ruff said earlier in the day.

Deciding factors in the series

The Devils’ Ruff didn’t mince words Wednesday when asked the key to winning the series.

“It’s going to be a game of who can slow each other down,” he said.

The Devils want to go fast. The Canes don’t mind a speedy pace but want to decide the speed limit.

Ruff’s scouting report on the Canes: “They’re a team that works really hard on the defensive part of the game. Don’t give up a lot. A back end that has real good speed. A real good team on the puck, strong on the puck. Details away from the puck are really good. So it will be highly competitive 50/50 battles and trying to make sure we win our share to create opportunities.”

Ruff said Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour had done a “great job” with his team, noting, “The game they want to play, they play it night-in and night-out. They know what their identity is and they know how they want to play.”