New York. The New Jersey Devils season is famously hanging by a thread.
They were totally crushed by the Carolina Hurricanes at The Rock last night and are now in danger of being eliminated in the Friday night rally.
– We had players who completely lost their minds tonight, sighs coach Lindy Ruff after the 6-1 defeat.
When the Devils, after two big first losses in the PNC arena, came back as strong as in the Round of 16 against the New York Rangers and actually swept the field with the Hurricanes on Sunday morning, hopes rose among fans that they could. Make a new and wonderful transformation.
It also started brilliantly in the fourth round of the night. Just under two minutes later, Jack Hughes made it 1-0 on a Timo Meyer shot and all of Newark were ready for a fresh start.
But there were no more goals during the energetic general opening and instead the visitors managed to equalize at the end of the first half.
He took completely
Then, in the middle chapter, the flood exploded. The Hurricanes took over completely, running over bemused homers and pocketing five balls – in ten holes.
– It’s hard to explain what happened, but we stopped playing. It’s unacceptable, says team captain Nico Hischer.
Coach Lindy Ruff agrees.
– We’ve had players who “gone lips” (roughly: lose concepts) and stop playing the way they’re supposed to play, he says.
– We played between East and West instead of the North, and everyone acted in his favor without support.
Opponents did exactly the opposite: they played exactly as they should, mused with mindless gusto, slowed the Devils down tremendously, and, in fact, took their chances.
Coach Rod Brind’Amore, who called Sunday’s performance “terrible,” is very pleased.
– These guys are good at reloading. They have been all year. He says: We cared about their mistakes and minimized our own.
Second best Swedish
Jesper Fast scored one of the goals during the snap in the second period, thus racking up four complete hits in the playoffs this year – the second-best Swedish record this spring.
In the third period, the Ice was unfortunately left injured, but there didn’t seem to be any major danger with the Småland native.
Thus, the next game in the series is played in a Friday night rally and then the Devils must win – otherwise the season is over.
There is no time to feel sorry for ourselves. We know we can’t afford to lose any more games in this series and that’s it. We have to play our best hockey all the time, says Captain Hischer.
