RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils realize how important home ice advantage could be in their Eastern Conference First Round series.
Game 1 is at Lenovo Center on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, SN360, TVAS, FDSNSO, MSGSN).
Each team won two games at home during the regular season: Carolina 4-2 on Oct. 15 and 5-2 on Dec. 28; and New Jersey by identical 4-2 scores on Nov. 21 and Dec. 27.
The Hurricanes finished eight points ahead of the Devils and tied their franchise record for home victories (31-9-1) set in 2005-06 (31-8-2) on the way to their first Stanley Cup title.
Carolina has won the past four series against New Jersey, most recently the 2023 Eastern Conference Second Round in five games.
“The weather’s warm; the fans are rowdy,” Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook said. “The games mean so much. It’s like you get a whole new burst of energy. It’s like you’ve drank five coffees and 10 Red Bulls every morning before a playoff game. I don’t know how to describe it. Your life gets taken over by it.”
The Devils finished with more wins on the road (23-16-2) than at home (19-17-5) this season, and are hoping that success carries into their matchup with the Hurricanes.
“We feel confident in our ability to play on the road, no question,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I think the playoffs are a whole different animal and we need to reestablish that. [Carolina] is not an easy place to play, but obviously you can’t win a series if you don’t take care of things on the road.”
Here is a breakdown of Game 1:
Devils: Forward Ondrej Palat will return to the lineup after missing a 5-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday with a lower-body injury, and defenseman Dougie Hamilton is also good to go after he returned to the lineup on Wednesday following an 18-game absence due to a lower-body injury. Forward Jesper Bratt led the Devils with an NHL career-high 88 points (21 goals, 67 assists) in 81 games. Captain Nico Hischier had 69 points and a career-high 35 goals in 75 games, including 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) over his final 16 regular-season games. Forward Timo Meier had 53 points (26 goals, 27 assists) in 80 games. The Devils had the third-best power play (28.2 percent), and second-best penalty kill (82.7 percent) during the regular season. New Jersey finished with the fifth-lowest goals-against average in the NHL during the regular season (2.68).
Hurricanes: Goalie Frederik Andersen will start Game 1. He missed 39 games following knee surgery Nov. 22 and finished 13-8-1 with a 2.50 goals-against average, .899 save percentage and one shutout in 22 games. Andersen hasn’t faced the Devils this season in four games. Pyotr Kochetkov is 27-16-3 with a 2.60 GAA, .898 save percentage and two shutouts in 47 games and 1-1-0 with a 3.07 GAA and .878 save percentage in two starts against New Jersey this season. Center Sebastian Aho led the Hurricanes with 74 points (29 goals, 45 assists) in 79 games and forward Seth Jarvis was first with 32 goals. Left wing Taylor Hall had 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in 31 games since being acquired in a three-team trade with the Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 24. Carolina’s defense ranked 10th in the League with a 2.80 GAA.
