New Jersey Devils center Dawson Mercer played 18:03 against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.AP
The adage is that baseball is a game of inches, but hockey can be decided by the slimmest of margins, too.
In Tuesday’s Game 2 of the first-round series between the Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils, one player — on one sequence — determined the game by what he did incorrectly.
ESPN NHL analyst Mark Messier, the former New York Rangers captain, called out Devils center Dawson Mercer during the second intermission for his botched coverage that led to the Hurricanes’ first goal, which tied the game at 1 and propelled their 3-1 win and 2-0 series lead.
“There’s a breakdown of the defensive-zone coverage, which completely turned the momentum of the (second) period. And this is just an academic play. We get these all the time,” Messier, the Hall of Famer, said.
“It’s a standard play. Mercer comes out to the point. When he goes to him — that is his man. He does one thing. If when he moves it, he stays with him. He doesn’t, he tries to do someone else’s job. Now everybody’s confused and Mercer gets lost in the fray. … The whole momentum of the period changed into (the) Hurricanes’ favor. You have to be disciplined in your own zone defensive coverage. He wasn’t and it cost him that goal.”
Instead of sticking with his man, defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, Mercer latched onto defenseman Sean Walker at the top of the defensive zone. Walker immediately fed the puck back to Gostisbehere to cause confusion within the Devils’ defense because of Mercer’s decision and spring the goal. Gostisbehere went untested for a shot and then cleaned up the rebound to beat Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom for the 1-1 goal at 2:57.
Carolina forward Jordan Martinook scored minutes later shorthanded to give the Hurricanes a lead at 5:54.
Mercer played 18:03 with two shots on goal, six hits and a minus-1 rating, courtesy of a goal that changed the game’s momentum.
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