Recap & Ranker: Devils end Canes’ winning streak, 5-2

Two nights after letting their offense go on full display, the Carolina Hurricanes laid an egg, falling 5-2 to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night in Newark. With an opportunity to leapfrog New Jersey in the standings, the Canes fell short in what seems to be an all too familiar feeling: one step forward, one step back. With that being said, the Canes are still in playoff position but Columbus is one point behind with a game in hand.

Before I continue in my attempt to be the most negative person in the Triangle, let’s recap tonight game in New Jersey.

Jeff Skinner opened the scoring 17:20 into the 1st period. With Carolina maintaining possession in the Devils zone, Victor Rask fed a crashing Skinner who got the Canes on the board first.

But less than three minutes later, the Devils scored the equalizer on Damon Severson’s ninth goal of the season. Just as a Canes power play expired, Seversons corralled the puck in his own zone and sped down the right wall towards Scott Darling. With Jesper Bratt acting as a decoy, Severson beat Darling far side on a shot that you wouldn’t expect a 6’6” netminder to give up.

Carolina was then forced to play catch-up as Stefan Noesen scored in the second after the Canes couldn’t clear and Darling failed to cover the puck in the crease. You could see the frustration coming from the Canes’ goalie after the goal crossed the line.

Luckily, Brett Pesce came to the rescue less than a minute later on an individual play that was practically a textbook example of how to be patient with the puck, how to complete the perfect toe drag and finally, how to pick your spot. The goal was Pesce’s 3rd of the year.

Sadly, that was the last time Carolina would dent the score board. Kyle Palmieri scored to close the 2nd period, and Nico Hischier added his 11th of the season on an absolute snipe eight minutes into the third. Thirty seconds later, Noesen tipped home his 2nd of the game for his seventh overall.

With the win, Keith Kinkaid improved to 5-1-1 all time against Carolina, filling in for the injured Cory Schneider.

The Hurricanes hope to get those two points right back tomorrow night at home against John Tavares and the Islanders before the Devils come to Raleigh on Sunday afternoon.

Rank the Performances

Here’s your chance to weigh in on how you think the team performed tonight. Upvote the players you think played well and downvote the ones who didn’t.