3 Keys to the Series | FEATURE

The Devils and Hurricanes face off in Game 1 of the First Round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. Here are my three biggest keys to winning the series for both teams.

BREAKOUT vs. FORECHECK

The biggest difference maker in a 5-on-5 setting could be the Devils’ breakouts against the Hurricanes’ aggressive forecheck.

The Hurricanes implement a high-pressure forecheck – sometimes 1-2-2 and sometimes a 2-1-2 – where the forwards will pressure both the strong and weakside while most teams typically pressure on the weakside. This poses both problems and opportunities. The Hurricanes sending a second strong side attacker means the Devils will have less time on their breakout plays and will be under pressure to move the puck quickly. Which also means the Devils’ defensemen (and goaltenders) need to make faster decisions and tape-to-tape passes to evade the attack. The Hurricanes’ forecheck play creates a lot of turnovers and Carolina is very good at winning battles on contested pucks. That has allowed the Canes to be one of the best teams in the league in offensive zone time, evidenced by their boasting the biggest shot differential in the league at +554 shots (and it wasn’t even close as Florida came in second at +441 and only seven teams were over 100).

Luckily, the Devils’ defensive structure is built for these exact situations. New Jersey wants all five skaters in the defensive zone to play tight together, allowing for easy, short-range and low danger passes. It also allows for the puck possessor to have multiple outlet options, and the team can utilize more than one pass to exit the zone.

If the Devils defensemen make the right read and hit those options with well executed passes, New Jersey can essentially trap the Hurricanes’ F1 and F2 and create odd-man rushes with their speed. That’s easier said than done when you’re under the gun, but it does have the potential to create some offense on the counterattack for New Jersey. And if the Devils aren’t able to get their breakouts situated, the Hurricanes will try to grind them down. It would make for a long, grueling and draining series of survival in the D zone for New Jersey.

SPECIAL TEAMS

In the playoffs, special teams can make or break a series. With 5-on-5 play expected to be tight, especially between two teams that are so strong defensively, it may be one or two power-play goals that tip the scale in this series.

The Devils have the NHL’s second-best penalty kill unit (82.7 percent) while Carolina’s power play has struggled this season (18.7 percent, 25^th in the NHL). Since Jan. 1 only Anaheim (11.1%) has been worse with the man-advantage than the Hurricanes (12.4%). While this would seem to favor New Jersey, the Hurricanes still have a talented group that can be effective on the man-advantage. And with a clean slate, anything is possible.

But the real matchup to keep an eye on is the Hurricanes’ No. 1-ranked PK (83.6%) against the Devils’ No. 3-ranked power play (28.2%). It’s a case of two powerhouses (the unstoppable force and the immovable object) colliding head-to-head.

Oddly enough, the Devils power play didn’t miss a beat in the absence of Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton (28.6%) than when they were both in the lineup (27.1%). The moral is that no matter who suits up, the Devils are deadly with the extra man. Captain Nico Hischier posted a career-high 14 power-play goals followed by Stefan Noesen’s career-high 11. The return of Hamilton should boost the club a bit by adding another threat from the blue line.

One thing the Devils need to be cognizant of, the Hurricanes have scored 10 shorthanded goals on the year, which tied for fourth most in the NHL, led by Seth Jarvis’ five (tied for third most in NHL). Needless to say, this will be a pretty interesting and dynamic matchup.

GOALTENDING

The biggest factor in either teams’ success will come down the men in the masks. A hot or cold goaltender can steal or lose a series for any team. You can do everything right (or wrong) from what’s mentioned above, and the goaltender could still end up being the deciding factor. Great goaltending can cover up a lot of mistakes. Terrible goaltending can hinder even the best teams on the ice.

The Devils traded for Jacob Markstrom last summer for this very reason. They went out and got their man to lead them into postseason play. The 35-year-old veteran is the type of goalie that can steal a series. In the first half of the season he was in the talk for the Vezina Trophy as best goalie in the NHL. Only an MCL injured hampered his trophy contender status. In three games against Carolina this season, Markstrom went 2-1-0 with a 2.34 goals-against average and .916 save percentage.

The goaltending is less settled in Carolina. The club has two solid options in veteran Frederik Andersen and youngster Pyotr Kochetkov. Andersen, 35, missed a of time this season due to an injury, but upon his return in late January to full health the Hurricanes have faithfully rotated between the two men for every single game, and it isn’t clear which way the club is leaning for the postseason. Kochetkov, 25, went 1-1-0 with a 3.07 goals-against average and .878 save percentage against New Jersey this season (Andersen did not face Jersey this year).

For what it’s worth, the Hurricanes did nearly an identical rotation last year at the end of the season with their goalies, but ultimately gave Andersen 10 of the 11 starts in the playoffs.