Devils, Hurricanes to meet in Round 1 of Stanley Cup Playoffs

The New Jersey Devils clinched their spot in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Wednesday night after the New York Rangers’ 8-5 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. The Devils clinching also confirmed that they and the Carolina Hurricanes will face off in the first round of the playoffs.

Going into Thursday morning, the Hurricanes are 46-27-4 with 96 points, currently second place in the Metropolitan Division. Meanwhile, the Devils are 41-30-7 with 89 points. While neither team has clinched home ice, Carolina has a seven-point lead on New Jersey with a week to go in the regular season.

The two teams have met five times in the playoffs, the first time in 2001 in the opening round. They last met in the second round of the 2023 postseason. The Hurricanes won the series 4-1.

Carolina’s next game is in D.C. Thursday against the Washington Capitals, who clinched the Metropolitan Division Tuesday night. As for New Jersey, they will face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night at home.

Sebastian Aho leads the team in assists and points with 42 and 70. Seth Jarvis leads the team with 30 goals, and combined with his 31 assists he has 61 points. Pyotr Kochetkov has a 26-15-3 with .898 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.58 goals against average (GAA).

As for the Devils, Jesper Bratt leads the team with 67 assists and 88 points, both career highs for the Swedish forward. Nico Hischier leads the team with 35 goals and his third on the team with 67 points. Jacob Markstrom had a 26-15-6 record with .899 SV% and 2.53 GAA.