Shoot Your Shot | COLUMN

RALEIGH, NC - The Hurricanes are who the Devils thought they were.

For one thing, the Devils knew that in the first period of Game 1 at Carolina, particularly the opening 10 minutes at Lenovo Center, they were going to be up against a maelstrom.

For another thing, the Devils knew that Carolina would carry a lot of the play and most likely end up with a lopsided total of shots.

“When it goes to the first TV timeout, they’re usually outshooting their opponent pretty dramatically,” Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe said before the series. “And that’s against some of the best teams in the league. You have to go into it prepared for that and manage it.”

The Devils got what they expected in the Hurricanes’ 4-1 victory Sunday afternoon to take a 1-0 series lead in the First Round matchup.

Carolina opened the game by scoring on its first shot – Jalen Chatfield – just 2:24 minutes into the opening period. By the time eight minutes had run off the game clock, the Hurricanes had a 12-2 edge in shots.

“We expected a push from them, coming out hot here,” said captain Nico Hischier, who scored the lone Devils goal. “We didn’t hold against it in the first couple of minutes.”

When the final buzzer sounded, the Hurricanes had 45 shots to the Devils 24. But, again, that was no surprise.

“We’re going to get outshot every game in this series. That’s just the reality,” Keefe said after the game. “This opponent has only been outshot like eight games out of 82. We’re not focused on the shot clock. We have to find our way to mitigate some of the pressure that they put on us, get through and get to our game a little more frequently and maximize the chances that we get.”

The Hurricanes led the NHL in shot differential at plus-554 (that’s 113 better than second place Florida’s plus-441). But shot totals can be deceiving and only tell part of the story.

After all, shots totals don’t tell you is how many great scoring chances a team had. Carolina is a team that puts a lot of pucks on net, but most of those are from the outside and not from high-danger areas.

“They were at 30 shots or so at about the 10-minute mark of the second period, but at 5-on-5, I only had them at them at four scoring chances at that time,” Keefe said. “There’s going to be a lot of volume (of shots). We have to manage that. Then find our way through it.”

But also, shot totals can be an indicator of puck possession in the offensive zone. You can’t create shot volume without having the puck in the offensive zone.

That means the Devils will likely have less time in the offensive zone in this series. Thus, New Jersey needs to convert on its limited opportunities and be opportunistic.

“That’s their strength. They get a lot of shots and keep you at low shots,” forward Timo Meier said. “We knew that going into the series. It’s more about executing on the chances we get.”

In the defensive zone, the Devils need to close some of the shooting lanes and get their bodies in the way instead of allowing Carolina to freely throw the puck at the net.

“We allowed them way too much to get the puck on net. We have to better in shooting lanes,” Hischier said. “We know they throw a lot of pucks on net. Still, going out on the point we have to be way better in the shooting lanes.”

Second, the Devils need to get out of their zone as quickly as possible to limit getting pinned down and exhausting a lot of energy chasing the Hurricanes.

“The better we play on our half of the ice is going to reduce their time with the puck and increase ours,” Keefe said. “That should take care of getting us a little bit more offense.”

Third, in the offensive zone, the Devils need to find a way to penetrate the layers of Hurricanes players positioned between the puck and the goaltender.

“They’re strong and they battle hard. They compete. All things we know,” Meier said. “Work harder and create your own lanes to the net.”

Lastly, the Devils need to make their chances count, particularly on power-play opportunities.

“We’re not going to get a lot (of shots). That’s just the reality of it,” Keefe said. “That being said, we had more than enough to score more than we did.

“It’s going to come down to us maximizing the chances that we do get and being better on special teams than we were today.”

The Devils will get another chance Tuesday night when the teams meet for Game 2 at 6 p.m. at Lenovo Center.

“The nice thing about playoff hockey, you get to go back in a few days, same building, same team,” Meier said. “This next game is going to be huge for us.”

Hischier: “We lost one game, and we’ll come back.”