Carolina’s Ownership Continues

RALEIGH, NC - MARCH 28: Sean Walker #26 of the Carolina Hurricanes checks Dawson Mercer #91 of the New Jersey Devils during the third period at Lenovo Center on March 28, 2026 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Josh Lavallee/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images This game was a real litmus test for the current streaking Devils, and the dumb part of me still wondered “what if. ” Welp, that dumb part of me got put away in the middle of the second.

As the game wore on, the Canes did what they do – stayed patient, forced mistakes and capitalized. We just have no solution for this team. 1st Period The game started choppy with both teams having difficulty finding any rhythm, but the Canes controlled most of the zone time – if you could call it control – until the Devils went on the Power Play at 9:50.

Their struggles continued against the Canes as they generated no shots and no real zone time (for either unit) and the Canes were able to kill it. 20 seconds after the first PP, they would draw another penalty as Tripped Tsyplakov just outside the offensive zone. Similar to the first go-round, they couldn’t generate anything.

That makes them 1 for their last 30 PPs against Carolina after today. With 3 minutes left the Devils caught a break, as Nico flung a backhanded stretch pass up to Mercer who was streaking into the zone on the right wing boards. Realizing he didn’t have a clean breakaway and the back/side pressure, he smartly held up, delayed, and slid a pass to Meier who made no mistake about burying it.