Early look The full preview opens on Saturday 20 February, three days before puck drop, with the expected goalies, the latest team news and game-day prices. Until then this page shows the matchup as it stands.
Early look · NHL 2026-27

Carolina Hurricanes at New Jersey Devils: game preview

Puck drop23 Feb · 7:30 PM ET
VenuePrudential Center
All-time meetings144 completed
BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26
The thesis

Twenty-six points apart last season

Carolina finished last season 2nd in the league on 113 points. New Jersey finished 21st on 87, and the 2025-26 season series went CAR 4-0-0.

Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.

Head-to-head

Meeting number 145

Across 144 completed games, Carolina lead the head-to-head 72-62-10.

All-time record72-62-10Carolina's record in the series
Meetings played144This is number 145
2025-26 seriesCAR 4-0-0
Last 55-0Carolina
DateResultShotsPower playWinner
28 Mar 2026NJD 2 – CAR 5——CAR
17 Jan 2026CAR 4 – NJD 1——CAR
4 Jan 2026CAR 3 – NJD 1——CAR
9 Oct 2025NJD 3 – CAR 6——CAR
29 Apr 2025NJD 4 – CAR 5 OT——CAR
Head-to-head finder

The table on each 2025-26 meeting night

DateCarolinaNew Jersey
9 Oct 20251-0-0 · 2 pts8th0-1-0 · 0 pts29th
4 Jan 202625-14-3 · 53 pts5th22-18-2 · 46 pts16th
17 Jan 202630-15-4 · 64 pts2nd24-22-2 · 50 pts25th
28 Mar 202646-20-6 · 98 pts3rd37-33-2 · 76 pts21st

League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 9 Oct 2025, Carolina were 8th in the league and New Jersey 29th. By 28 Mar 2026 it was 3rd and 21st.


Where the shots come from · last 5 meetings

Carolina out-attempted New Jersey 264 to 200

Every attempt from the last meetings, both teams shooting right.

Carolina Hurricanes

264 att · 132 on goal · 18 G · 13.6%
Crease23 att · 3 G
Slot105 att · 9 G
Wing90 att · 5 G
Point36 att · 0 G
Neutral zone10 att · 1 G

New Jersey Devils

200 att · 100 on goal · 7 G · 7.0%
Crease6 att · 0 G
Slot86 att · 4 G
Wing81 att · 3 G
Point20 att · 0 G
Neutral zone7 att · 0 G
GoalOn goalMissedBlocked

Expected goals

Carolina have created the better chances, last 10 games

Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.

CarolinaNew Jersey
3.74xG for per game3.52
2.21xG against per game3.01
62.9%xG share53.9%
−4.0FinishingGoals minus expected goals−4.5
−3.2GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed−4.0

This season: 4 games for Carolina, 3 for New Jersey. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.

Every team’s xG →


Special teams

Power play and penalty kill, season and series

This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.

All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings

Carolina

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2719.0%
Power play · 2025-2624.9% · 4th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2789.5%
Penalty kill · 2025-2680.5% · 11th
Faceoffs · 2026-2752.1% · 125/240
Drawn · 2026-2721 (5.25/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2719 (4.75/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

New Jersey

Small sample
Power play · 2026-277.1%
Power play · 2025-2622.0% · 13th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2762.5%
Penalty kill · 2025-2679.3% · 17th
Faceoffs · 2026-2747.5% · 87/183
Drawn · 2026-2714 (4.67/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-278 (2.67/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Skaters

Skaters to watch

Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.

PlayerGPGAPP/GP
20Sebastian Aho44371.75
53Jackson Blake40330.75
86Jack Hughes31120.67
63Jesper Bratt30220.67
Points leaders
PlayerGPGAPP/GP
74Jaccob Slavin40220.50
43Luke Hughes31010.33
47Declan Chisholm30110.33
Defencemen stats

Goaltending

Who has stopped this matchup

Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.

Expected startersAn estimate until the teams confirmEvery game tonight →

Expected starter after their game on 21 Feb: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Expected starter after their game on 21 Feb: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Carolina crease

CAR · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 20 Feb

Brandon Bussi.8513 GP · 1-1-1 · GSAx −3.7
Pyotr Kochetkov.8891 GP · 1-0-0 · GSAx +0.5

No appearances against New Jersey in the last meetings.

New Jersey crease

NJD · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 20 Feb

Jake Allen.8752 GP · 1-1-0 · GSAx −1.7
Nico Daws.8131 GP · 0-1-0 · GSAx −2.5

No appearances against Carolina in the last meetings.


Totals

Scoring rates point to about 6.2 goals

No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.

Goals in the last 5 meetings

28 Mar 20267 · NJD 2–5 CAR
17 Jan 20265 · CAR 4–1 NJD
4 Jan 20264 · CAR 3–1 NJD
9 Oct 20259 · NJD 3–6 CAR
29 Apr 20259 · NJD 4–5 CAR

Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.

Scoring rates

Team26-27 GF26-27 GA25-26 GF25-26 GA
Carolina2.753.003.612.93
New Jersey2.004.332.803.10

Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.

Scoring rates suggest6.2Goals in this game
Last 5 meetings6.8Goals per game
Line—No total posted yet
Books at the line—With the game-day prices

Team news

7 on the injury lists

Carolina · injuries

Alexander NikishinContract DisputeOutReturn10 Oct
Seth JarvisShoulderIRReturn24 Oct

New Jersey · injuries

Connor BrownLower BodyOutReturn12 Oct
Johnathan KovacevicKneeIRReturn10 Oct
Jonas SiegenthalerUndisclosedDay-to-dayReturn10 Oct
Nick BjugstadPectoralIRReturn19 Jan
Seamus CaseyKneeIRReturn21 Nov
30 Sep · CAR

Placed G Cayden Primeau on waivers.

27 Sep · CAR

Placed C Seth Jarvis on the injured non-roster list. Placed LD Juuso Valimaki on waivers.

27 Sep · CAR

Placed C Seth Jarvis on the injured non-roster list. Placed D Juuso Valimaki on waivers.

27 Sep · NJD

Claimed LW Jeremie Poirier off waivers.

27 Sep · NJD

Claimed LW Jeremie Poirier off waivers. Placed C/RW Marc McLaughlin, LD Vladislav Kolyachonok, G David Rittich, LW Riley Tufte, LD Topias Vilen, and C/RW Colin White on waivers.

25 Sep · NJD

Assigned Ds Mikael Diotte, Ethan Edwards, Jeremy Hanzel, Etienne Morin and Anton Silaev, Fs Josh Filmon, Lenni Hameenaho, Shane Lachance, Matyas Melovsky, Xavier Parent, Cam Squires and Ben Steeves and G Jakub Malek to Utica (AHL). Waived for the purpose of assignment to Utica Ds DJ King, Charles Leddy and Eamon Powell, Fs Tristan Ashbrook, Zachary Gallant, Gabe Klassen, Jack Malone, Justin Pearson, Ryan Schmelzer, Cristophe Tellier and Jermey Wilmer and Gs Jeremy Brodeur and Seth Eisele.

Injury report
#51William HakanssonRound 2 · LuleaD
#61Wiggo SorenssonRound 2 · Boro/vetlandaC
#68Zachary LansardRound 3 · ReginaRW
#105Michael BerchildRound 4 · Usa U-18LW
Full draft
#12Alexander CommandRound 1 · Orebro Jr.C
#37Matias VanhanenRound 2 · EverettLW
#44Nikita ShcherbakovRound 2 · Ufa Jr.D
#119Lavr GashilovRound 4 · Yekaterinburg Jr.C
Full draft

Updated after every final