3 Observations From Devils’ Game 5 Loss to Hurricanes

RALEIGH, NC -- For the second time in his career, New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff lost a playoff series at PNC Arena because of a puck over the glass. His team was eliminated in Round 2, Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after Carolina Hurricanes' forward Jesper Fast scored the game-winner in overtime on the power play. Dawson Mercer and Timo Meier scored for New Jersey, while Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns found themselves on the scoresheet with Fast. 

One of the biggest complaints after their crushing Game 4 loss was the Devils' lack of a 60-minute effort. After the game, Nico Hischier stated the team stopped playing while Ruff referenced his team standing still. 

In a do-or-die Game 5, the Devils showed up ready to play. Michael McLeod won the opening draw against Derek Stepan, and a little over 15 minutes into the game, Dawson Mercer scored New Jersey's first of the night. 

Ahead of the game, Ruff did not expect Jack Hughes to be in the lineup, as he is dealing with an upper-body injury. Defenseman John Marino skated out to the ice to play with gauze up his nose after getting hit in the face. 

"They gave me everything they had," Ruff said during his postgame press conference.

With 12:51 left in the first overtime, defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler sat in the penalty box watching Ryan Graves, Marino, Michael McLeod, and Hischier try to kill off his delay-of-game penalty. With 28 seconds remaining on his infraction, he saw Fast's hands go up in celebration and his season end. 

"I mean (Siegenthaler) feels the pain like we all do," said Ruff. "We said all year long that we're gonna win as a group or lose as a group, and it's a tough break and a tough situation."

It would be easy to blame the blueliner or Tomas Tatar for his pass back to him, which put Siegenthaler in a difficult situation, but in hockey, you win as a team and lose as a team. 

The Devils failed to finish a few opportunities that could have put the game away, including Meier missing the empty net. They had another chance halfway through the third period when Ondrej Palat had the opportunity to score the go-ahead goal, but Frederik Andersen made the save. 

"When (Meier) missed the empty net to make it 3-1, I thought, and I said that this may come back to haunt us," said Ruff. 

There may not have been a player who rose to the occasion this postseason more than McLeod. In 12 playoff games, he earned 6 points (two goals, four assists). He earned a point in four out of five games versus the Hurricanes.

On May 7, the 25-year-old shared his thoughts on why he thinks he has excelled in the postseason. 

"I think it's just a simple game," McLeod said. "It's a hard game. You got to step up and play hard and make those hits. It's not making plays at the blue line, it's a lot of down low, who's gonna outwork (the other) team for a longer period of time, and it's a detail-oriented game."

The 6-foot-2 Mississauga, Ontario native is a restricted free agent and, without a doubt, has played himself into a nice raise this summer. He was one of the few Devils that consistently made a positive impact throughout the postseason, whether it was scoring an important goal or taking a critical defensive zone faceoff. 

On Friday, May 12, the organization will announce the schedules for the team's end-of-season media availabilities.