In the 2023 postseason, the New Jersey Devils saw their playoff dreams dashed by a red-hot Carolina Hurricanes squad in the second round. Fast forward to 2025, and the stage is set for a thrilling rematch as these two teams square off in the First Round of the playoffs. With their regular season encounters evenly split, both teams snatching two victories each, the Devils are now keenly focused on tightening their game to ensure they advance further this time.

One area where the Devils need to sharpen their edge is special teams. On paper, New Jersey boasts impressive stats on both the power play and penalty kill.

These opportunities are golden tickets to swing momentum in their favor, and they’ll need to capitalize on them. The Devils rank second in the NHL with an impressive 82.7% success rate on the penalty kill, trailing only the Hurricanes who lead the league at 84.3%.

On the flip side, New Jersey sits comfortably in third place with a potent 28.2% power play success rate, while Carolina lags behind in the lower echelons of the league, with just an 18.5% success rate.

Yet, during their regular season slugfests, the story wasn’t as one-sided. The Devils netted three goals from eight power play opportunities, compared to the Hurricanes’ two goals on nine chances. It’s worth noting that one of those Hurricanes’ goals came from a five-minute power play following a major penalty on Timo Meier for kneeing.

Despite going 4-4-0 in their last eight games, the Devils’ special teams have been firing on all cylinders, boasting a whopping 35.7% on the power play and an impressive 90.5% on the penalty kill. This strong showing bodes well as they gear up for postseason intensity this weekend.

As playoff emotions run high, trips to the penalty box are almost guaranteed. If the Devils can maintain their prowess on the power play while simultaneously shutting down the Hurricanes’ struggling man advantage, it could very well be the difference-maker in this closely contested series. The battle of special teams might just tip the scales in New Jersey’s favor as they seek redemption against Carolina.