Not particularly optimistic about the Devils chances in this one.
People expecting a rout by the Hurricanes clearly haven’t watched the Devils this year though. The offensive talent is clearly lacking, but this is a strong detailed defensive team that doesn’t give up much at all. I think they keep the games close for that reason. Once you do that, anything can happen.
The issue is I just don’t know where the Devils generate offense from. Devils have largely relied on Hischier and Bratt to drive the offense this year. If Staal is hard matched against Hischier and effectively neuters his line, where is that offense coming from? Same goes for the Devils producing on the power play.
I just don’t see where the offense comes from without some monster performance by the Devils depth players like Tatar, Haula, Glass, Palat, Sprong, Cotter, etc. To be blunt, they haven’t given any indication all season long that they are capable of that.
Those guys are going to need to match up against an Aho line or Svechnikov line in Carolina and find a way to win those minutes. That’s going to be a tough task.