RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes enter their second round series with the New Jersey Devils as the higher seed and with home ice advantage.
However, they've also got some serious injury issues that could make them underdogs.
Teuvo Teravainen suffered a broken hand in the opening round, while Andrei Svechnikov (ACL), Max Pacioretty (Achilles), and Ondrej Kase (concussion) had already been ruled out of postseason play.
While Kase and Pacioretty were limited to six combined games this season, Svechnikov was one of the team's leading scorers, and Teravainen was a key forward on the penalty kill while adding some offensive punch.
Here's what the forward lines look like for Game 1 against the Devils:
Stefan Noesen - Sebastian Aho - Seth Jarvis
Jordan Martinook - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Jesper Fast
Jack Drury - Jordan Staal - Martin Necas
Derek Stepan - Paul Stastny - Jesse Puljujarvi
Carolina's strength remains on defense, where the Hurricanes are one of the deepest teams in the NHL. They also have a very capable tandem in net between Antti Raanta and Frederik Andersen.
Having said that, Andersen was limited to one game in the opening round due to injury, a 33-save performance in a series-clinching Game 6 win over the New York Islanders.
"The Devils could very well take advantage of the Hurricanes' injury situation," admits Jared Ellis of Locked on Hurricanes.
Conversely, Devils coach Lindy Ruff said that forward Timo Meier "will be a game-time decision" for Game 1 after taking a massive hit from New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba in Game 7.
He did participate on the morning skate, and "it will really depend on how he feels," Ruff added.
There was a one point gap between the Hurricanes and Devils in the regular season standings, and while Carolina's road to the second round was a bit smoother than New Jersey's, health will be a massive factor here.