Injuries Derail Devils' Once Promising Season

On Dec. 27, the New Jersey Devils sat atop the Eastern Conference standings with a 24-11-3 record (51 points) and looked like a strong contender.

Unfortunately for them, it all went downhill from there.

After an underwhelming second half of the season, the Devils were eliminated from the playoffs following a 5-4 loss in double overtime to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 on Tuesday night. This is New Jersey's second playoff loss to Carolina in the past three years.

When looking at what went wrong for the Devils down the stretch, it's impossible to ignore the sheer mountain of injuries they had to deal with. Jack Hughes, who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury on March 2, is at the top of that mountain. The former No. 1 overall pick was having a nice season with 70 points (27 goals, 43 assists) in 62 games, so losing him was obviously devastating for the Devils.

New Jersey's injury woes didn't stop there, though. Three of the Devils' regulars on the blue line - Luke Hughes, Brendan Dillon and Johnathan Kovacevic - were not available for Game 5 after suffering injuries earlier in the series, the former two in Game 1 and the latter in Game 3. Star defensemen Dougie Hamilton also missed more than a month due to injury and only returned for the final game of the regular season.

The Devils were essentially a shell of themselves throughout their series against the Hurricanes, and unfortunately, it showed. They averaged just 2.2 goals per game during the series, currently the fewest of any team in the postseason. Their special teams were also atrocious, as they went 0-for-15 on the power play while the Hurricanes went 6-for-19 (31.6 percent).

Even with all that working against New Jersey, Jacob Markstrom did everything he could to delay the inevitable. The 35-year-old goaltender was lights-out late in Game 5 as he stopped 49 of 54 shots he faced, including 33-straight shots between the start of the third period and Sebastian Aho's game-winner in double overtime.

If the Devils can stay healthy, or at least healthier, going forward, then the future still looks bright. For this season, though, it's hard to think about what could've been.