The start of the New Jersey Devils' first-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes has been the exact opposite of what the team had hoped for. The Devils have lost each of their first two games of the series and are now just two more losses away from being knocked out of the first round.
In Game 1 against the Hurricanes, the Devils lost by a 4-1 final score and recorded only 24 shots on goal. The Devils then lost by a 3-1 final score in Game 2 on April 22, where they allowed three unanswered goals after scoring the game's opening goal.
While the Devils have struggled early on during this series, goaltender Jacob Markstrom is doing his part to keep them in games. In Game 1 against the Hurricanes, Markstrom stopped 41 out of 44 shots. He then saved 25 out of 27 Hurricanes shots in Game 2. Thus, he has been on his game, even if he has not picked up a win yet this post-season.
With these back-to-back solid starts, Markstrom currently sports a .930 save percentage and a 2.52 goals-against average this post-season. These are strong numbers, and it is clear that the 6-foot-6 netminder needs more offensive support in front of him moving forward if the Devils are going to get back into this series.
Game 3 between the Devils and Hurricanes will take place on April 25. It will be intriguing to see if the Devils can give Markstrom more offense and pick up a win because of it from here.
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