The Devils were never going to climb out of their 2-0 series hole against the Hurricanes if their stars couldn’t break into the scoring column.
Aside from Jack Hughes, New Jersey’s high-powered offense was getting little to nothing from its regular season standouts, as Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt entered game three with one goal (a Bratt empty netter) combined after netting 103 goals in the regular season.
The story leading into Sunday’s crucial game three was the arrival of a new face in top prospect Luke Hughes, but as the game unfolded, the story quickly became the awakening of the team’s already established standouts finally breaking through.
Meier, Hischier, and Jack Hughes (twice) all found the back of the net in the first 22 minutes of action to help the Devils run out to a 4-0 lead and set the tone for an 8-4 victory at The Rock, as New Jersey responded with a much-improved effort for the second straight series after looking overmatched in the first two games.
New Jersey’s revitalized scoring attack chased Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen early in the second after New Jersey pulled Akira Schmid from Friday’s game two disaster, ultimately returning to Vitek Vanecek.
The win catapulted the Devils back into the series, and saw the team’s stars finally making an impact in the scoring column.
Meier got the scoring started, taking a pass behind the net from Jack Hughes and stuffing it inside the right post, just through the outstretched pad of Andersen, as Meier was finally able to break through after knocking on the door throughout the entire playoffs with 32 shots.
New Jersey’s stars continued to shine when Jack Hughes ripped a top shelf shot past Anderson just five minutes later, sending a centering pass to Brendan Smith above the circles, and Smith sent a feed back to Hughes in the right circle.
New Jersey found itself in all-too-familiar penalty trouble later in the opening period when Tomas Tatar was called for a high stick in the offensive zone. But Michael McLeod, in the opening seconds of the kill, used the boards to tap the puck past Brett Burns in his own end, then went coast-to-coast while shielding the puck from Seth Jarvis before flicking a forehand shot through the five hole of Andersen for a shorthanded goal.
The tally gave the Devils a commanding 3-0 lead, and gave the team more goals in the first 12:30 of game three then they had in the first two games of the series combined.
New Jersey picked up right where it left off to start the second period, as Hischier broke through with his first of the postseason when Bratt entered the zone and was knocked to the ice behind the net, but was able to scramble to his feet after a Hischier shot caromed into the far corner. Bratt, as he was still lifting himself off the ice, hurled a backhand pass right back to Hischier, who muscled a shot home for a 4-0 lead.
After Carolina got one back courtesy of Sebastian Aho, the Devils went right back to work when Damon Severson, off passes from the Hughes brothers, weaved his way through the Hurricanes defense and fired a shot that beat Pyotr Kochetkov blocker side to push New Jersey’s lead right back to four early in the second, and giving Luke Hughes the first playoff point of his career.
Game three also brought plenty of physicality from the revived Devils, who were nearly even with the Canes in a first period that saw 35 combined hits, and in the second period, Jack Hughes took exception to a cross check by Aho, throwing the Carolina star to the ice and throwing punches before the two were separated.
The Newark crowd roared in appreciation for the rare display of their star throwing punches and getting sent to the penalty box. But the willingness to be physical, along with the resurgence of the team’s top scorers, represented the drastic change in identity for New Jersey after two lopsided losses to begin the series.
With their top contributors suddenly back in the playoffs, so are the Devils.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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