The New Jersey Devils face the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Five of the Second Round in what's been a one-sided series. The Devils won Game Three but have been outscored 17-3 in the other three games and are now one game away from being eliminated. The Hurricanes won Game One and Game Two at home and with a 6-1 Game Thrre victory, they are one win away from the Eastern Conference Final. The Devils look to keep their season alive while the Hurricanes look to clinch the series on their home ice and the upcoming game should be a great one.
The Devils are trailing 3-1 in the series with their offense struggling, scoring only 11 goals in the series. Jack Hughes, Michael McLeod, and Dawson Mercer have scored four goals and seven assists but the rest of the offense has struggled. The hope is that Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt can step up as they play a pivotal role in the forward unit but only have one goal and three assists in this series.
The offense has struggled but the defense has let the Devils down this series, allowing 21 goals. Dougie Hamilton, John Marino, and Jonas Seigenthaler have led the top two pairings but the rest of the unit has struggled, allowing the Hurricanes to find open shots on the net at will. Additionally, goaltender Vitek Vanecek has struggled, allowing 12 goals on 68 shots and his backup Akira Schmid hasn't fared much better, allowing eight goals on only 48 shots.