Playoff Notebook: Arriving In Newark With The Upper Hand

NEWARK, NJ. -After a pair of dominant wins on home ice to open the series, the Carolina Hurricanes now head to the Garden State for the next pair of affairs.

About Last Night

Carolina took care of business with an emphatic 5-1 victory to open the series on Wednesday, but there was an understanding that New Jersey's lackluster performance was a carryover from their emotional Game 7 victory over the New York Rangers just 48 hours prior.

In the time between Games 1 & 2, the anticipation spun forward to how the Devils would respond and many thought the Canes would have their hands full with a forceful pushback from their opposition.

Instead, they drubbed them by five, putting together perhaps an even better performance than their first go-around.

"I think we were just rolling four lines. Everyone was playing hard," Jack Drury reflected when asked what he felt made the team so successful in their game plan on Friday. "We were sticking to our structure, getting pucks behind their defense and forechecking hard. Then, when we needed to make stops in the defensive zone, we were able to do that too."

New Jersey did have a strong opening 10 minutes in the contest, but the stretch turned out to be the best 10 minutes of their night. And after concluding with two failed power play attempts, instead, it was Carolina leaving with more to feel good about in the special teams department.

"It was a huge kill. The PK did a great job there," Drury continued of the moment. "(New Jersey) has some really high-end players, so it's not an easy job. It was big to get that done in the first."

Carolina's penalty kill is now 5/5 in the series and 22/23 in the postseason, leading all teams with a success rate of 95.7%.

What Changes On The Road?

While coaches will often downplay the importance of matchups, Carolina having the ability to make the last change has impacted the series to this point.

Jordan Staal's line has had the responsibility of shutting down New Jersey star Jack Hughes, holding him pointless and -4 through the first two contests of the series.

Jack Adams Award nominee Lindy Ruff will have the opportunity to try and flip that now, likely eyeing up getting his young talent away from the defensive stalwart that is the Canes' captain. But with Jordan Martinook and Jesper Fast both having a successful series on the wings of Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and Sebastian Aho's line showing that they've been able to hold their own at each end of the ice, Rod Brind'Amour doesn't seem too concerned with the potential of Hughes facing another Canes trio.

"Now, the way we're structured, it's not really just Jordo against them, we've tried to balance (our lines) a little bit." Carolina's head coach said of his new combinations, before alluding that it's not just the forwards exclusively that the opposition has to work against. "We've got six defensemen we're pretty comfortable with playing against anyone."

While much of the discussion often lands around who Staal has to defend, following last night's showing, which featured goals from both #11 and his new linemate Martin Necas, perhaps it's the other side that now needs to worry about defending the trio of those two and Drury.

Between The Pipes

Frederik Andersen allowed just one goal again last night, marking three consecutive starts that that has now been the case.

Battling past an illness and an upper-body injury at the start of Round 1, it feels like the roles have completely reversed from this point last series, where Antti Raanta looked comfortably in control of the crease for Carolina after starting the postseason with a pair of wins.

Now, it's Raanta battling who is under the weather, a late scratch ahead of Friday's Game 2 and meaning that Pyotr Kochetkov had to back up "Zilla" for the group.

Saturday afternoon Rod Brind'Amour said that Antti Raanta is feeling better, but "not great" when asked for an update on the netminder. The head coach said that #32 would travel with the group, but it doesn't sound like a start on Sunday is in his future.

"No concern there. It was something we guarded against during the regular season, but we'll meet tonight and talk about it," Brind'Amour offered when asked if he had reservations about starting Andersen once more. "I know it's a 3:30 game and there's a shorter rest period, but this time of year you need to throw your best guys out there."

Andersen did not make four starts in a row for Carolina during the regular season and another start for him tomorrow would be three in five days, something else he was also not tasked with during the 82-game campaign.

Teravainen Skates, But Still Not Close

Just 17 days removed from suffering a broken hand, Teuvo Teravainen skated for a second consecutive day on Saturday.

Working with the Black Aces at Wake Competition Center, Brind'Amour said that #86 lacing them up is largely insignificant and the winger is not close to returning.

Teravainen underwent surgery on April 20 following the injury. A common timeline for NHL players returning from an injury like Teravainen's is 4-8 weeks.

Up Next

Sunday's puck drop is set for 3:30 p.m. ET at the Prudential Center in Newark.

The broadcast will be nationally televised on TBS.

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