Devils 1 — Hurricanes 5 (1st game) | A big challenge for the Devils

Is it already time to panic for the Devils? A little, maybe.

Of course, no one has ever lost a best-of-seven series from Game 1, and in that sense New Jersey players are lucky because they can’t be eliminated before having suffered three more losses like this in a field in suburban Raleigh.

But there’s the way, and on Wednesday night, the Devils were outplayed by their opponents, the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-1 from start to finish. This allows the former Whalers to take a 1-0 lead in this series.

The way, we said… this dominance can only be explained by the first 20 minutes of the game, where the Devils looked like a lower caliber club, which does not deserve to be there.

In fact, the Devils got only one shot in that first period, a weak shot from the neutral zone that pretty much anyone could have stopped, including Ben Scrivens. The rest of the time, it was the locals who brilliantly dictated the tempo.

We insist: it’s only a match. But these Devils looked ill-prepared, not at all ready, in fact, as if they were still trying to recover from their emotions, they who had just come out of a disputed series under the sign of intensity against the New York Rangers.

With a second game already scheduled for Friday night, that doesn’t leave much time to recover…

In all of this, the most worrying part for the Devils is perhaps the goalkeeper’s exit a little too quickly. Akira Schmid, the same one who came out of nowhere in the first round like a Steve Penney for Generation Z, proved to be short of miracles this time around. Schmid had to go sit on the reserve stool after giving up 3 goals on just 11 shots. He can’t be held responsible for this discomfiture, but will Schmid be able to regain his magic quickly enough? The question is valid.

Because the challenge of the Devils is significant. The Hurricanes aren’t betting on star players — their leading scorer, Martin Necas, finished the season at 58^e rank of scorers in the National League — but they have a unit, a cohesion, which makes them formidable opponents. And frustrating, too.

To add to it all, the Devils had to play this game without Timo Meier, who was knocked out in Game 7 of the series against the New York Rangers on Monday night and following a violent body check by Jacob Trouba.

There won’t be panic in the Devils’ camp, because there can’t be. Now is not the time for that. On the other hand, there must be answers from coach Lindy Ruff. Because if the Hurricanes are often all alone on the ice like that, this series will not last very long.

Up: Jordan Staal

A two-point night to go with a +3

Down: Akira Schmid

A short evening of work for the Devils goalkeeper.