GDT: Devils @ Hurricanes - 2025 Playoffs! RD1 GM5 - 7:30 PM - MSG, TBS, MAX

[MadDevil]

It’s a 3-0 lead… 3-0. I can’t believe it.

Really? You've witnessed the Devils goaltending since prime Cory and can't believe they'd blow a 3-0 lead? Granted, Markstrom was supposed to be the answer, but it's not that hard to believe a period of awful goaltending could sink a team that already had multiple other issues. It would have been nice if the offense didn't completely vanish after he finally righted himself.

 

[Bcap88]

Marsktrom posted better numbers than Hellebuyck has in the 4 games he played so far. Aside from that 2nd goal tonight (which yes was pivotal) he was strong in goal. He literally posted better numbers then the goalie who is probably going to win the Vezina this year. Shit, he posted better numbers than Vaslivesky & Kuemper so far. That's the 3 goalies up for Vezina contention.

It’s not the numbers it’s the timely goals he let in which deflates the whole team

Game 4 you have momentum in theory after coming off a big game 3 win and he lets in a stinker in the first minute and then gives up another stinker shortly after.

Game 5 you have a 3 goal lead and you give another stinker on the second goal

Yea the numbers may have looked fine but in the grand scheme of things You can pin games 4 and 5 on him

 

[britdevil]

I f***ing hate Carolina.

 

[guitarguyvic]

Really? You've witnessed the Devils goaltending since prime Cory and can't believe they'd blow a 3-0 lead? Granted, Markstrom was supposed to be the answer, but it's not that hard to believe a period of awful goaltending could sink a team that already had multiple other issues. It would have been nice if the offense didn't completely vanish after he finally righted himself.

A 3-0 lead in an elimination game is a new low though. Especially when it involves a guy that was supposed to be our solution to the goaltending woes.

The only thing more bewildering is that we are right back at questioning if we will have quality goaltending next year. On top of needing to overhaul nearly half the forward group and figuring out how we are gonna ensure we get some mobility/productivity out of the d-core. Along with tough questions about Hamilton, Nemec, Casey, and Palat’s futures here.

This team could be a contender with the right moves…or it could just as easily not even qualify for the post-season. Bonkers that we still have to deal with this level of uncertainty 7 years after drafting Nico.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

If you want proof that the injuries didn't make a difference, look at the fact that Carolina was able to get goals from their stars and guys like Svech/Aho tonight to complete a 3 goal comeback while the Devils on Sunday were putting guys on the ice like Justin Dowling and Tatar to possibly score a goal for the same result. If the Devils have Jack, they probably win Sunday FWIW.

The special teams which we thought be our gateway to a series win turned out to be a horrific downfall for us. I think Dougie's played last game in NJ, brutal series for him.

 

[Emperoreddy]

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

No reason to keep Glass if he wants a penny over minimum. He's a nothing player.

Tatar counts. He's gotta go too.

These are my thoughts too. But I think Fitz qualifies him because he spent an asset to acquire him.

 

[NJDevils17]

Special teams were the difference but injuries were the real culprit.

 

[Alex NJD]

Our lineup this series featured 3 bottom-6 players in the top 6. 2 4th liners on the 3rd line. And 3 guys who are basically 13th-14th forwards as the 4th line.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

Keefe mentioned in his postgame presser what we all could have surmised, which was they knew after Game 1 that Luke and Dillon were done for the series.

Good to see Nemec get some kudos from Keefe. Especially given he did call him out earlier in the season for mistake made, that he needed to be sent to AHL to work on his game.

For this reason I dont want to trade Casey. Send him back to AHL next season for another year of development. Dougie will be traded before he finishes his Devils contract.

 

[Guttersniped]

The PK giving up 6 goals doesn’t bother me much.

Carolina scored 2 PP goals in Game 3, in the 3rd period on penalties by Siegenthaler and Pesce. Having them in the box, after losing Kovacevic, was rough.

Tonight Carolina scored one PP goal 5v3 and another after 3:07 minutes of a double minor.

Dillon played 1:23 and Kovacevic played 4:31 total minutes on the PK, out of the team total 32:12 PK minutes, after leading the team in regular season PK minutes.
The rest of the defense?
Pesce 23:19 (4:40 per 60)
Dumoulin 22:34 (4:31 per 60)
Siegenthaler 5:46 (1:55 per 60)
Nemec 3:16 (0:49 per 60)
Hamilton 2:48 (0:33 per 60)
Luke 0:27

That’s a lot to ask of an injured Pesce and a TDL addition.

Zero PP goals was the real killer IMO.

In game 2, we got our first PP in the 2nd period when the game was 1-1 and gave up the back-breaking SH goal in 0:14 seconds.

In game 3, I would argue that we had to eke out a win in 2OT because we couldn’t score in our 10 minutes (!) of PP time.

And while we were missing Jack, we still had a top PP in the last 20 GP after we lost him:
32.6% PP% (T-1st), 12.88 GF/60 (1st), 9.76 xGF/60 (3rd).

Unlike the PK, we only lost Luke on the PP during the series.

Series Totals
Goals: NJD (11) 11 EV (1 4v4)
CAR (19) 9 EV 6 PP 1 SH 3 EN
Penalties: NJD 22 (46 PIM)
CAR 19 (38 PIM)
PP: NJD 0-15/29:42
CAR 6-19/32:12

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

Mercer took Tom to the brink in contract negotiations and then noticeably regressed. Dude's gone.

$4m per season is market value for a 3rd liner that chips in 20 goals per year and PKs.

I get we are all disappointed on what he has become because his 1st and 2nd seasons was very good. And we all thought he would continue his development upwards to become a top 6 player.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

It’s not the numbers it’s the timely goals he let in which deflates the whole team

Game 4 you have momentum in theory after coming off a big game 3 win and he lets in a stinker in the first minute and then gives up another stinker shortly after.

Game 5 you have a 3 goal lead and you give another stinker on the second goal

Yea the numbers may have looked fine but in the grand scheme of things You can pin games 4 and 5 on him

The Devils offense was anemic in game #1 , #2 , #4. Game #3 took them up until double overtime to score a 3rd goal. Yeah there are games when its going be low scoring but he didn’t get great goal support up until tonight. They scored more than 3 goals 1 time in 5 games. I think the problem is pretty clear. The team's offense went ghost in the 3rd period and overtime tonight. Markstrom was connecting better passes and clearing the puck out the zone then oir skaters for f***s sake.

 

[MadDevil]

These are my thoughts too. But I think Fitz qualifies him because he spent an asset to acquire him.

His qualifying offer will be too high, but I do expect them to sign him for something less than it.

 

[Emperoreddy]

 

[Edmonton East]

Marsktrom posted better numbers than Hellebuyck has in the 4 games he played so far. Aside from that 2nd goal tonight (which yes was pivotal) he was strong in goal. He literally posted better numbers then the goalie who is probably going to win the Vezina this year. Shit, he posted better numbers than Vaslivesky & Kuemper so far. That's the 3 goalies up for Vezina contention.

I'm sure someone will post some stupid take saying "his numbers are inflated because Carloina shoots alot". The goaltending this year was much improved. Fitzgerald just needs to fix this offense. This team isn't far off from being a better playoff team.

Yea I mean no one really argued Markstrom wasn't gonna be an upgrade this year. The argument was it was an overpay that should only be made by a team set to seriously contend immediately considering his age/asset value sent. The issue of course is this roster was never going to seriously contend this season, even with Jack. If you make the Markstrom move, you need to be prepared to throw your chips in the middle for a high-end 3C at a minimum before the season starts as well. No half measures. If you can't materially improved the C depth because of silly contracts or whatever reason(s), then you don't overpay for a 35 year old goalie.

A mid 1st and cost controlled giant #4 dman still not in his prime was a general overpay given the goalie market values. Then consider the actual situation for the Devs and it really didn't make sense. Devs got near realistic best case performance out of Markstrom for most of the season....and it still didn't matter. If he was 28, this would be fine. But he wasn't/isn't.

 

[Emperoreddy]

 

[glenwo2]

I am just numb right now.

We get back to the playoffs and it's the SAME GODDAMN RESULT like it was in 2018.

The same....f*cking....result.

Even Taylor Hall was involved (despite him being on the other team this time).


I can't stand that F*cking franchise.

And I wonder if we could've gone further if the NHL never including that team in the Metro division....

 

[Aurinko]

Really? You've witnessed the Devils goaltending since prime Cory and can't believe they'd blow a 3-0 lead? Granted, Markstrom was supposed to be the answer, but it's not that hard to believe a period of awful goaltending could sink a team that already had multiple other issues. It would have been nice if the offense didn't completely vanish after he finally righted himself.

Goaltending did not sink the team, since Markström played good, but it wasn't the answer either.

My fear was going down 0-4 without playing Allen once, but going 1-4 is even more annoying.

 

[Japam]

I was at my kid's practice last night and my Devils fan friend and I kept checking the score and were happy they were up 3-0 in the first. Then I said "yeah but I'm sure by the time we get home it'll be something stupid like 4-4".

 

[HoliksGhost]

Bratt was invisible tonight

First game all year he wasn’t the best skater out there, he looked gassed

 

[Call Me Al]

i thought nico, pesce, dumo, timo and nemec all came to play and brought their A games, everyone else can lick my balls.

for $4m mercer is fine, it’s disappointing he’s not more but his salary doesn’t require more. haula blech, let’s get him off the team. palat looked good in the playoffs, i think we can keep him for one more season just to keep the buyout more palatable (hehehe) next summer.

i think we should try to move Dougie, i know he’s probably not 100% so assessing his playoffs may be unfair, but Nemec showed his potential here - there’s a top pairing all situations d man there waiting to develop. we can use dougie salary elsewhere to fill holes.

the bottom 6 is space crap and should be rocketed to the sun and never seen again. it this is where you need some draft picks that can step up and fill these roles on ELCs, the million and change thrown to all of these guys adds up.

markstrom? blech. I didn’t like the trade from the start and i absolutely hate it now. we paid a premium for 2 seasons of him as a 34 year old - this season we got a .900 save percentage and he single-handedly cost us two playoff games. makes great saves and looks amazing sometimes but it’s like his brain doesn’t start on time and gives up early goals or it takes a vacation mid game and coughs up the game. you’ll never convince me we couldn’t get the same or better results from any other decent goalie that has a strong defensive system in front of them.

 

[Dylan9z9]

First game all year he wasn’t the best skater out there, he looked gassed

Good game for that

 

[Billdo]

Hamilton smiling after the game going over to Markstrom still pisses me off.

 

[Clam Jensen]

Luckily our second daughter was born last night right before the game so this series loss means nothing to me. Life has a funny way of putting things in perspective.

I have faith that the team will address the glaring needs this offseason (depth, depth, and more depth!). Hopefully Grits helps with that and the brothers Hughes get bionic shoulders. Oh and f*** the canes and their embarrassing brand of hockey! Can’t wait to see a real team stomp them.