Keefe: Devils were 'overwhelmed' in 2nd period vs. Hurricanes

Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe knew the Hurricanes were too much for his team to handle in the middle frame of New Jersey's 4-1 loss to Carolina during Sunday's Game 1.

"I thought the second period we were just overwhelmed, and that was not good enough," the bench boss said. "The third period was good, but the damage was done by then."

The Hurricanes took it to the Devils in the second stanza, outshooting New Jersey 21-8 with Logan Stankoven finding twine twice. Devils captain Nico Hischier got his team on the board with a sharp-angle shot with just over one minute left in the frame, but Carolina netminder Frederik Andersen turned aside all 11 shots in the third to secure the victory.

The Devils' worst sequence occurred in the last period when defenseman Luke Hughes exited after crashing into the net. He labored off the ice while appearing to favor his left arm and shoulder, though he ultimately returned. The blue-liner missed the first nine games of the Devils' season with a shoulder injury.

Moments before Hughes' scare, forward Cody Glass was felled after getting clipped by netminder Jacob Markstrom. Keefe had no update on Glass' status postgame.

Devils rearguard Brenden Dillon sustained an injury in the second period and was unable to return. Keefe said Dillon was "eager to get back out there" but was held back by the medical staff for precautionary reasons.

"Some of it's unfortunate, some of it's playoff hockey," Keefe said of the Devils' injury troubles in Game 1. "It's physical, it's fast, it's competitive.

"We had a lot of guys I thought really looked uncomfortable out there and took some time to really find themselves. Some got better and some didn't, but obviously we're going to need a whole lot more in Game 2."

All in, Carolina outshot New Jersey 45-24 while controlling 56% of the expected goals and 73.9% of the high-danger chances at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick.

"We're not gonna get a lot (of chances)," Keefe said. "That's just the reality of it. ... With that said, we had more than enough to score more than we did. There were some opportunities there if we dig in a little bit more."

He added, "It's gonna come down to us maximizing the chances that we do get and being better on special teams than we were today."

New Jersey will look to even the series Tuesday night.