Schedule and 2002 Results
Regular Season Records: Carolina 35-26-16-5=91pts, New Jersey 41-28-9-4=95pts
Game 1 on Wednesday, 17 April: New Jersey loses at Carolina, 2-goals-1
Game 2 on Friday, 19 April: New Jersey loses at Carolina, 2-goals-1 (OT)
Game 3 on Sunday, 21 April: Carolina loses at New Jersey, 4-goals-nil
Game 4 on Tuesday, 23 April: Carolina loses at New Jersey, 3-goals-1
Game 5 on Wednesday, 24 April: New Jersey loses at Carolina, 3-goals-2 (OT)
Game 6 on Saturday, 27 April: Carolina wins at New Jersey, 1-goal-nil

SERIES NOTES: Post Game 6 and series assessment: Carolina defeats New Jersey 1-goal-nil in Game 6 to win the series, 4-games-2. The win elevates Carolina's best-of-7 Prelim-round Game 6 record to 1-2 (1-1 on the road); the loss drops New Jersey's best-of-7 Prelim-round Game 6 record to 3-6 (2-2 at home). Carolina wins its first-ever best-of-7 playoff series in three tries in Carolina (its predecessor franchise, the Hartford Whalers, had an 0-7 best-of-7 series record). New Jersey's best-of-7 playoff series record falls to 16-11 (6-7 in Prelim-round play). Carolina avenges its loss to New Jersey in the 2001 Preliminary round -- a series in which the Hurricanes set a best-of-7 format series record (for a Prelim-round series lasting six games) for fewest goals scored (eight) in the series. In 2002, the Carolina-Jersey Prelim-round series, which also lasted six games, New Jersey allowed only one more goal (nine total) ... but lost the series. The WWLLWW win by Carolina is the 8th in NHL Preliminary round play, the 26th in NHL playoff series (all rounds), and the 48th overall. Post Game 5 assessment: After the overtime victory in Game 5 by the Hurricanes, a Devils Prelim-round series win would be without precedent (albeit certainly not impossible). Carolina's Game 5 victory boosts their best-of-7 Prelim-round Game 5 record to 2-1 (1-1 at home), while New Jersey's loss drops them to 7-5 (3-3 on the road) in Prelim-round Game 5 action. Neither Carolina nor its predecessor franchise, Hartford, has led a best-of-7 playoff series 3-games-2 before. New Jersey has a 2-4 series record when trailing a series 3-games-2, but the two wins have occurred in the last two of these series. New Jersey led this game by one goal with only 1:30 remaining in the third period (one second before Carolina tied the game): In best-of-7 NHL playoff series from 1939 through 2001, when a team led by one goal with 58:30 elapsed in the game, its game record was 697-27 (.963). Post Game 4 assessment: With its Game 4 victory in Carolina, New Jersey improves its best-of-7 Prelim-round Game 4 record to 6-7 (4-2 at home), while that for Carolina falls to 1-2 (0-2 at home). When tied 2-games-all in a best-of-7 series, New Jersey's series record is 7-7, while that for Carolina is 0-1. Post Game 3 assessment: New Jersey rebounds from its losses in Games 1 and 2 with a 4-goals-nil shutout vs. Carolina in New Jersey. Game 3 of this series is the first time ever in which a team trailing 2-games-nil won a best-of-7 Prelim-round Game 3 via shutout. The shutout is the most lopsided shutout in this situation since series 369, in which the Montreal Canadiens trailed the Minnesota North Stars 2-games-nil in their 1980 Qtrs-round, but won Game 3 by a 5-goals-nil score. When opening a best-of-7 series LLW, the New Jersey Devils have a 1-0 series record, defeating the Boston Bruins in their 1994 Qtrs-round series (series 660) for that win. When up 2-games-1 in a best-of-7, the Carolina Hurricanes (and the Hartford Whalers before them) have a combined series record of 0-3. New Jersey is now 8-5 in best-of-7 Prelim-round Game 3 (3-3 on home ice); Carolina is now 1-2 in best-of-7 Prelim-round Game 3 (1-1 on road ice). The old Hartford Whalers were 2-4 in this situation (0-1 on the road). Post Game 2 assessment: Once before has either Carolina or its predecessor franchise, the Hartford Whalers, won the first two games in a best-of-7 playoff series: In 1987, the Whalers won their first two games in Hartford in series 476 vs. the Quebec Nordiques, before losing Games 3-6 and the series. Entering Game 2, Carolina had a 1-1 Preliminary-round Game 2 record (1-0 at home), while that for New Jersey was 9-3 (3-2 on the road: New Jersey is tied with four other teams for the most road Preliminary-round Game 2 wins -- three -- in the NHL). Of NHL teams that win their first two games of a best-of-7 series at home against an opponent with more regular-season points (i.e. Carolina), two went on to win the series (Toronto in the 1963 Semis; Colorado in the 2000 Qtrs) while one lost the series (Montreal in the 1984 Semis). Post Game 1 assessment: Carolina wins the first game of a best-of-7 playoff series for the first time since 1991, when their predecessor franchise (the Hartford Whalers) took the opener against the Boston Bruins in best-of-7 series 576. NHL teams winning Game 1 of a best-of-7 series by a one-goal margin have (1939-2001) posted a 111-60 (.649) series record. Pre-series assessment: Series 850 is a rematch of series 823, the 2001 NHL Preliminary round match-up between New Jersey and Carolina (won by New Jersey in six games). In 2000-01, New Jersey posted the best regular-season record in its conference; in 2001-02, New Jersey won four more regular-season points than Carolina, but Carolina is a 2001-02 division winner and thus under the current NHL playoff format gains home-ice advantage vs. the Devils. Still, the fact that New Jersey had more regular-season points puts the historical victory probability data into a somewhat different context for this series. In the 1999 NHL Preliminary round, Carolina likewise had home-ice advantage vs. Boston for series 775, despite spotting 5 regular-season points to Boston: Carolina lost that series to Boston in six games. From 1939 through 2001, when NHL best-of-7 opponents were separated by 4 regular-season points, the better regular-season team (home-ice advantage notwithstanding) has gone on to post a 4-7 (.364) best-of-7 series record in that series against that opponent.