Hurricanes, Devils To Meet in First Round

The Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils will meet for the sixth time in the postseason.

New Jersey Devils center Paul Cotter scores a goal past Carolina Hurricanes goalie Dustin Tokarski. / James Guillory-Imagn Images

The first matchup of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is officially set in stone.

The Carolina Hurricanes will face the New Jersey Devils in a matchup of the second- and third-place teams in the Metropolitan Division.

Carolina is locked into the second place after the Washington Capitals clinched the Metropolitan Division title on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, New Jersey, which clinched a playoff spot following the New York Rangers' loss on Wednesday, is locked into thirde place.

Carolina and New Jersey are very familiar with each other in the playoffs, as this will be their sixth postseason matchup. The Hurricanes have won four of the previous five meetings, including the most recent one, a second-round series in 2023 that they won in five games.

The Devils' only win came in the first round of the 2001 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the first meeting between the two future rivals.

The Hurricanes and Devils have split their four-game regular-season series, with the home team winning each time. Carolina won the latest meeting 5-2 at Lenovo Center on Dec. 28.

With New Jersey clinching on Wednesday, seven of the eight playoff spots in the Eastern Conference have now been decided. The Montreal Canadiens have a firm grasp on the final playoff spot with 87 points, eight points ahead of four teams all tied at 79 points.

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