ECQF Preview: Your New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes - We're Playoff Bound!

[MartyOwns]

@Devs3cups I also found this interesting analysis. Its the cumulative playoff record for three groups of playoff teams. Each group is segmented by how they finished the regular season. The hot group had a good final ten games, the even group had an average final ten games, and the cold had a bad final ten games. Since 2014.

The cold teams overall have better records than the even and hot teams. Interesting indeed

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Add this to the hopium pile lol

that's actually really interesting. i always felt like it was the team going in hot that had the best cup odds, regardless of regular season success. i guess that's not the case

 

[forceten]

Also for the record. Devils are 18-20-4 since Christmas. Some folks make it out to be a lot worse. (Not excusing it at all, but some folks go overboard here)

But in playoff hockey terms that's 18-24. Not good.

Carolina definitely had bad stretches.

If we hadn't lost these last two and didn't lose what, twice, to San Joe, we'd be right there with them.

 

[MB3]

a loss in 5 games would be a spectacular win.

 

[MB3]

But in playoff hockey terms that's 18-24. Not good.

Carolina definitely had bad stretches.

If we hadn't lost these last two and didn't lose what, twice, to San Joe, we'd be right there with them.

“if we won 4 more games we’d be 4 games better in the standings” is the kind of analysis I come to HF for.

 

[Louskoolaid89]

players aren’t going to put their bodies on the line and risk injury the same way when the reality is the outcome of the game changes absolutely nothing for them. that’s just how it is. if one of our guys got hurt in one of these games and misses the playoffs you’d be complaining about that too.

Yeah but, they can't score. I'm not concerned about defense or goaltending going into this series. You thnk Carolina won't up their game too?

 

[MB3]

Also for the record. Devils are 18-20-4 since Christmas. Some folks make it out to be a lot worse. (Not excusing it at all, but some folks go overboard here)

That’s a 78 point pace. Not sure how you can make it out to be a lot worse; that’s f***ing pathetic for a non-tanking team, let alone a team with Cup aspirations.

 

[Davegarri]

That’s a 78 point pace. Not sure how you can make it out to be a lot worse; that’s f***ing pathetic for a non-tanking team, let alone a team with Cup aspirations.

For reference, we finished last year with 81 points.

 

[Clam Jensen]

I truly dont care how many games they’re able to win vs CAR, this core needs playoff experience; it’s worth its weight in gold.

This is their THIRD time in the playoffs since losing the cup to LA, I’m just juiced up for more competitive hockey, regardless of injuries, recent play, etc.

 

[MB3]

I truly dont care how many games they’re able to win vs CAR, this core needs playoff experience; it’s worth its weight in gold.

This is their THIRD time in the playoffs since losing the cup to LA, I’m just juiced up for more competitive hockey, regardless of injuries, recent play, etc.

competitive seems to be pulling a lot of weight here.

i’d LOVE to watch competitive hockey.

I don’t think we’ll be watching that.

 

[NJDevils17]

I’m just happy to be playing in the playoffs period. Lived through 1st line Jordon Tootoo, so I’m not going to be entirely negative here even with the current outlook trending downward.

 

[Hisch13r]

Also for the record. Devils are 18-20-4 since Christmas. Some folks make it out to be a lot worse. (Not excusing it at all, but some folks go overboard here)

My god are peoples standards here incredibly low if f***ing 27th in the league is not horrendous to you. Carolina over that span is 11th. Not to mention 25th vs 14th in GF% at 5v5, 27th vs 1st in 5v5 xG%, 23rd vs 11th in AS GF%, and 24th vs 2nd in AS xG%

Carolina is mid. We’re awful.

 

[Hisch13r]

Nose dived in January, but in fairness, then leveled out. We can argue semantics on this board all day long, we’ve been consistently inconsistent. Our incredible December stretch was met with a brutal January. After we ended our 2-6-2 stretch in late December to late January, we’ve managed multiple streaks of 3 in a row or 4 wins out of 5. Unfortunately, we tend to even that out with a losing streak that has been equal to that or alternate loss-win-loss.

It’s been a very up and down year, but I once again find the presumed lack of effort some people go off about to be a standard cliche used by fans when the team loses a game. I don’t think there’s a question about the effort the majority of nights. Now I did not watch yesterday’s game and it seems to be the outlier given our playoff position and opponent are locked in, but for the majority of the season, I don’t think effort is the issue. It’s never just one thing. There’s multiple things we could review under a microscope that are going to require fixing when the season’s up.

We quite literally have not “leveled out”. In January we were 18th in pts% and 22nd in xG%. February onward we’re 27th in pts% and 28th in xG%. It’s also not like we were terrible for months but now we’re heading in looking like we’ve righted the ship. It’s not “arguing semantics”. It’s either ignoring the outright fact we’ve been a bottom feeder since Christmas or acknowledging those facts and recognizing this team has sucked.

 

[Louskoolaid89]

For reference, we finished last year with 81 points.

The only difference from last season is the goaltending.

 

[Better Call Sal]

We quite literally have not “leveled out”. In January we were 18th in pts% and 22nd in xG%. February onward we’re 27th in pts% and 28th in xG%. It’s also not like we were terrible for months but now we’re heading in looking like we’ve righted the ship.

They're 15-15-1 since they ended their miserable late December-late January 2-6-3 stretch. They won 3 of their next 4, followed by alternating wins and losses for 8 games. Then they lost 3 in a row. Then they won 3 in a row. Then they lost 4 of 5 (1-3-1). Then they won 4 of 5. Now we've lost 3 in a row. As I said in this exact post that you quoted, we've been consistently inconsistent. Frustrating? Absolutely. As bad as the stretch in January where we lost 9 of 11? Not to that level, no.

I'm not saying anyone should just be happy about the roller coaster ride this season has been, but we're going to the playoffs. When everyone assumed our season would tailspin out of control when we lost Jack and then Dougie (and already having lost Siegs), the team found a way to have a winning record through the time that they clinched the playoff spot.

People joke that this board would find a way to suck the fun out of even a Cup win, and I'm inclined to believe it. I usually am not one to wish away hockey, but this current final stretch makes me wish the regular season was shorter. I'll see you all for the playoffs.

 

[Better Call Sal]

The only difference from last season is the goaltending.

See, I can't stand the comparison season-over-season because these teams are night and day in terms of how they play. Fitz may have overplayed his hand with the forward depth, but between the defense and goaltending and the structure that Keefe had brought, there are plenty of differences between these groups.

Part of me thinks some people would prefer to have Lindy back because it was possibly more exciting hockey.

 

[MasterofGrond]

DK has the devils at +200 to win the series. That's underdog status, for sure, but hardly non-competitive hockey. Moneypuck has the devils at 38.7% Maybe vegas + stats is wrong and we get swept with four 10-0 games, but man even that would be better than another decade in the wilderness.

why even be a sports fan if you're incapable of hope?

 

[Dialamo]

People joke that this board would find a way to suck the fun out of even a Cup win, and I'm inclined to believe it.

I can see it now, something along the lines of:

"That was a lucky fluke win, we aren't gonna win next year!"

 

[JK3]

Yeah this thread sucks. It was supposed to be a playoff hype thread, not a doom and gloom, pissing and moaning for a week straight thread. Get on board or GTFO.

 

[NjDevsRR]

That’s a 78 point pace. Not sure how you can make it out to be a lot worse; that’s f***ing pathetic for a non-tanking team, let alone a team with Cup aspirations.

My god are peoples standards here incredibly low if f***ing 27th in the league is not horrendous to you. Carolina over that span is 11th. Not to mention 25th vs 14th in GF% at 5v5, 27th vs 1st in 5v5 xG%, 23rd vs 11th in AS GF%, and 24th vs 2nd in AS xG%

Carolina is mid. We’re awful.

You all like to ignore the chain of posts in a thread, posting history and what folks are implying. Like, I literally put in a damn side note of not excusing that horrible stretch literally in the same post you are replying to. Because I knew I would get these responses.

Last night I was literally posting about Carolinas 24-20-4 stretch. Their worst stretch. 89 pt pace for 60% of the season. Which some on here were whitewashing.

I then brought up the Devils worst stretch which is the 2025 18-20-4 stretch which is around a 79 pt pace for 50% of the season.

Thats the difference in the standings between the two teams which was literally my point. And also that some folks made it sound like the Devils 2025 results were even worse than that. I forget who but someone said recently something like “only ten wins on the year”.

If you think I was implying that the 2025 results for the devils were excusable or are ok or that my standards are that low then you have the reading comprehension of a child. Because I made it clear that the Devils have had a bad 2025. I was even sounding the alarms after each win in November and December that changes to the roster needed to be made ASAP to avoid a big decline. After many wins in the GDT I was literally begging for moves. I then gave them the benefit of the doubt to get their shit together in January and then was very hard on them post 4 Nations onward when they started blowing those leads.

But yes. Lets ignore all that and say my standards are low.


Never change Devils HF, woof…..

 

[Oneiro]

I mean, I can't blame the downers this time. It's a very uninspiring hockey team.

But playoffs are playoffs.

 

[Bleedred]

I honestly think the talk of the team being terrible since Christmas is fine and very relevant, but probably belongs in the team thread. I just hope management knows it needs to be rectified in the summer. MAYBE we get a surprise or two in the offseason where some guy we thought we’d be stuck with another year of is jettisoned out of town somehow. Even Keefe said in the press conference that scoring has been a problem for a while now. He knows it.

I do think we’ll probably be more competitive when the series starts than we’ve been in the last several games, as we’ll at least have the best lineup we have available.

If Markstrom plays like he did in March and that Boston game then it will be a quick one. I think we’ll struggle to score, but we’ll be competitive if we can get saves.

Playoffs should have been mandatory this year, so I’m happier to make the playoffs and get swept than not make the playoffs again.

 

[The Grinder]

Yeah this thread sucks. It was supposed to be a playoff hype thread, not a doom and gloom, pissing and moaning for a week straight thread. Get on board or GTFO.

I think if the team didn’t drop 3 strait games against non-playoff teams in uninspiring fashion as they gear up for the playoffs the mood would be different.

 

[TrufleShufle]

I haven't been so excited to watch hockey in a while, playoffs can't come soon enough, but at the same time, I have actually just either decided not to, or didnt even think about turning on the last couple games. Look at the time and go "oh yea, Devils are playing hockey, I should turn that on and watch at some point before it's over." And sometimes still don't,

So as much as I would like to see them dominate every game leading to the playoffs, I'm not even putting in the effort to turn it on, so hard to blame them for their effort level.

Playoff hockey is going to be f***ing awesome though. Can't wait.

 

[Clam Jensen]

competitive seems to be pulling a lot of weight here.

i’d LOVE to watch competitive hockey.

I don’t think we’ll be watching that.

If you don’t think the lineup out there for game 1 will be competing, I don’t know what to tell you. It won’t look like the 80s Oilers, but they’re definitely going to be trying 110%.

 

[Better Call Sal]

I think if the team didn’t drop 3 strait games against non-playoff teams in uninspiring fashion as they gear up for the playoffs the mood would be different.

Meanwhile, our opponent is 1-4-1 in their last 6 including a 4 goal loss to Boston and a shutout loss to Buffalo. But they're Carolina, so they get a greater benefit of the doubt.

I don't know, I am simply going to see how the series itself plays out. I'm more concerned with our health and how we'll play from the start in Carolina vs. what we do in these final games of the regular season.