A Battle Fought till the end, Devils lose in OT to Carolina

New Jersey Devils, Ice Hockey, Professional

February 11, 2024

The New Jersey Devils took to the ice this Saturday night to play against one of their division rivals, the Carolina Hurricanes. With the Devils laying in 6th place in the Metropolitan division, also tied with Washington and Pittsburgh, New Jersey would hope to leave Raleigh with two points. Even though the Devils may have lost 1-0 in OT, they obtained one point.

The first period would begin sluggishly as the Devils and Hurricanes would try to find a rhythm of play to hopefully start the game strong. Once each team found their designated rhythm, they would fire shot after shot on net in hopes of the puck going in at least once. Each team would desperately attempt to get their team onto the scoreboard, but would get denied by either Vitek Vanecek or Pytor Kotchetkov. Both teams would conclude the period scoreless, but with the desire to put the puck in the net in the upcoming period.

The second period started off fiercely almost immediately as checks and shots would be taken from all around the ice in a seemingly more violent matter. Both teams would seem fed up with the fact that they could not get the puck past the goaltenders. New Jersey would seem to dominate though as they had many missed opportunities to give themselves the lead, but would be unable to reach the back of the net once again. The Devils would leave the ice, bitter with disappoint.

Even with the game still scoreless in the second intermission the devils would still be dominating over the hurricanes, they would have more shots on net and more powerplay minutes. This wasn't a case of sloppy game play, it was more so the Hurricanes defensive players and Kotchetkov that was keeping the Devils out of the game.

The third period would get going on a more intense note once again as each team battled for the lead. Many scoring chances would arise for both teams but none would be let through the goaltenders. Players would start to get visibly frustrated but would put their emotions aside and continue to play intensely.

The third period would end goalless and the game would head into OT. Stakes where high as Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier and Luke Hughes would get ready for the faceoff at center ice. After many shots on net, turnovers and saves, Sebastian Aho would bat the puck into the net to give the Hurricanes the win. The Hurricanes would celebrate while the Devils would leave the ice riddled with sorrow.

New Jersey played good and fought hard towards the end, but couldn't come out with the win that they truly deserved.

DEVILS POSTGAME INTERVIEW

Timo Meier would first be asked about how the team played as a whole tonight, and how even with the loss it was still a well played game, he would respond with “I thought we had a lot of chances over the game.” Timo would also speak about how he thinks the team can build off of this game.

Kevin Bahl would then be interviewed next, he would be faced with almost the same question as Timo was faced with. Bahl would agree off how that this game was played well as a whole and “If we bring that effort every game we could give ourselves a really good shot to win more.”

The Devils can most definitely use this game as a prime example of how to play more as a team and how to take more shots on net instead of passing until the opposing team rushes them. On Monday, the Devils take on the Seattle Kraken at Prudential Center, this is surely a game that the devils need a win for to get them going.