The New Jersey Devils suffered a crushing 5-4 defeat in double overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night at PNC Arena. Sebastian Aho scored at 4:17 of the second extra period to lift the Hurricanes to the series win, eliminating the Devils from the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.
The New Jersey Devils built a 3-0 lead on goals by Dawson Mercer, Timo Meier, and Stefan Noesen. Then, captain Nico Hischier added one more to give the Devils a 4-3 lead in the second period.
Sebastian Aho scored twice on the power play for the Hurricanes, including the game-tying and game-winning goals. Taylor Hall, Jackson Blake, and Andrei Svechnikov scored the other goals for the Carolina Hurricanes.
So, let’s take a look at the three least impressive New Jersey Devils players from their Game 5 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
3 least impressive New Jersey Devils players from Game 5 loss to Carolina Hurricanes
#3 Tomas Tatar
Tomas Tatar didn’t have his best night in Game 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes. He played in 13:07 of ice time over 21 shifts. He got two shots on goal and ended the night a plus-1.
But it was his costly penalty in the second period that set up the initial power play opportunity for the Hurricanes that led to Sebastian Aho’s game-tying goal. A dishonorable mention also goes out to Erik Haula who got called for tripping Aho during the penalty kill. That penalty set up the Canes’ two-man advantage.
Here’s a look at the game-tying goal:
The dog-tired Devils’ penalty kill unit could not do much to stop Aho from tying the game. While the game remained knotted up at four, it would be the Canes’ power play that would strike again to give them the win.
#2 Brian Dumoulin
The New Jersey Devils blue liner played over 37 minutes in Game 5 across 47 shifts. He was a workhorse, who, unfortunately, made a costly mistake on Aho’s game-tying goal.
During the 5-on-3 sequence, the Canes moved the puck around efficiently, leading to Aho getting a solid scoring chance. Dumoulin could not get across quickly enough, or get a stick in Aho’s shooting lane to prevent the shot from going off.
Of course, the Canes deserve credit for moving the puck well. But had Dumoulin anticipated the pass and shot better, the Devils could have prevented Aho from tying the game.
#1 Dawson Mercer
Dawson Mercer took a costly double-minor for high-sticking in the double overtime period. That costly penalty allowed the Canes to get four minutes of power play time. It was only a matter of time before the Canes burned the New Jersey Devils.
In this sequence, it was Jonas Siegenthaler, who played over 32 minutes on the night, who was the unfortunate recipient of the blame for the game.
Here’s a look at the game-winner:
The pass from Seth Jarvis over to Aho set up a one-timer that Jacob Markstrom could not stop. Markstrom made 48 saves on the night, but the one that got away was the difference-maker for the Devils’ season.
With New Jersey out of the picture. The Hurricanes will await the winner of the Washington-Montreal series in Round 2.
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Edited by Nestor Quixtan
