The New Jersey Devils went without star trade-deadline acquisition Timo Meier in Game 1 of their second-round clash against the Carolina Hurricanes Wednesday night.

Jesper Boqvist took his place in the lineup.

Meier exited Monday's Game 7 against the New York Rangers after taking a crushing hit from defenseman Jacob Trouba in the third period. Trouba wasn't penalized on the play.

The Swiss winger didn't hit the ice for another shift, but he returned to the bench to celebrate the Devils' 4-0 victory that punched their ticket to Round 2 for the first time since 2012.

Meier hit the 40-goal mark for the first time in the 2022-23 regular season as a member of the San Jose Sharks and Devils. The 26-year-old scored nine tallies and 14 points in 21 games after New Jersey acquired him.

The pending restricted free agent failed to record a point during the Devils' opening-round clash against the Rangers and was a minus-3 through seven games. However, Meier ranked second on the team with 27 shots while leading the way with 23 hits.

New Jersey also dictated the majority of the play with Meier on the ice at five-on-five in the series, controlling 64.4% of the shot attempts, 63.7% of the shots, and 67.2% of the expected goals, per Natural Stat Trick.

The Devils went 2-1-1 against the Hurricanes in the regular season.

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Matty Beniers, Owen Power, and Stuart Skinner are the 2022-23 finalists to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie.

Beniers tied for the league lead among the class in goals (24) and led all rookies in both points (57) and even-strength points (46).

The 20-year-old also ranked second in average ice time (17:06) among rookie forwards who played at least 35 games. Beniers is already centering Seattle's top line, and his play was a major reason the Kraken made the playoffs for the first time in their second season.

Power led the entire class in average ice time with 23:48, outpacing second-place Jake Sanderson of the Ottawa Senators by nearly two minutes. The Buffalo Sabres blue-liner, who's also 20 years old, led all rookies at the position in assists (31), points (35), and even-strength points (26).

Skinner grabbed the job as the Edmonton Oilers' starting goaltender away from offseason signing Jack Campbell, and Skinner was certainly deserving of the role. The 24-year-old authored a .914 save percentage and a 29-14-5 record and got the majority of starts for his club over the latter half of the campaign.

It should be noted that Vancouver Canucks forward Andrei Kuzmenko is ineligible for this award despite having just played his first NHL season. The Russian turned 27 on Feb. 4, so he does meet the requirement for being no older than 26 by Sept. 15 of his debut campaign.

However, the other rule is that a player can't have played more than 25 games in any single preceding season, nor in six or more games in each of any two preceding seasons, in any major professional league. Kuzmenko played eight years in the KHL, suiting up for 315 contests in that span.

The Professional Hockey Writers Association votes on the Calder Trophy at the end of the regular season. Detroit Red Wings rearguard Moritz Seider won it last summer.

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Gerard Gallant doesn't think he should be held responsible for his New York Rangers bowing out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the first round.

The Blueshirts head coach insisted Wednesday that he's done enough to keep the job and added that he hasn't yet spoken to general manager Chris Drury about his future.

Gallant took aim at reporters for mentioning the notion that he could be fired.

Gallant gave credit to the New Jersey Devils, who ousted the Rangers with a 4-0 victory in Game 7 on Monday night. The 59-year-old also noted the Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins and defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche came up short in their first-round matchups in these playoffs.

The Rangers finished this season in third place in the Metropolitan Division, five points behind the second-place Devils. Gallant was in his second season behind New York's bench. He guided the Rangers to a second-place finish in 2021-22. They reached the Eastern Conference Final but lost in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Gallant has a 99-46-19 record with the Rangers, who hired him in June 2021. He coached the Vegas Golden Knights for three seasons, beginning with their inaugural campaign in 2017-18. The club fired him in January 2020.

The Prince Edward Island-born coach is under contract with the Rangers through 2024-25 and is earning $3.5 million annually, according to CapFriendly.

Gallant coached the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Florida Panthers before his stints in Vegas and New York.

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The next wave of second-round series begins on Wednesday night. Let's take a look at a few ways to attack them with our best bets.

Oilers (-115) @ Golden Knights (-105)

The Oilers put forth an impressive first-round effort against the Kings. At five-on-five, they posted a 55% share of the expected goals and won by 0.80 goals per 60 minutes, ranking them third and second, respectively, among playoff teams.

Although the Golden Knights slot higher than the Oilers in both categories, it's important to put the numbers into context.

Edmonton played a 104-point Kings team that was three lines deep and a top-10 five-on-five side over the course of the regular season.

Vegas had a much easier path, topping a 95-point Jets squad that was missing key pieces like Josh Morrissey, Mark Scheifele, Cole Perfetti, and Nikolaj Ehlers for chunks - if not the entirety - of the series. The Jets are top-heavy, so not having those pieces was significant. Put simply, the caliber of the opponent was nowhere close to what the Oilers dealt with.

This is a big step up in class for the Golden Knights, and I think they're going to have a much tougher time.

The Oilers gave them a world of trouble in the regular season, winning three of four meetings and scoring 18 goals over that span.

Their big guns are going to be a lot for the Golden Knights to handle - especially if captain and marquee two-way winger Mark Stone is playing at less than 100%.

It's also going to be a tall order for Laurent Brossoit. He has performed quite well of late, but just a year ago, he played his way out of the NHL with subpar goaltending.

A few good weeks aren't enough to leave me overly confident he can do the job against Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and a terrifyingly good Oilers offense.

I like Edmonton to win the series and start on the right foot in Game 1.

Bet: Oilers (-115)

Jack Hughes over 3.5 shots (-115)

The Hurricanes are about the toughest matchup you can draw when it comes to generating shots. It doesn't seem to matter for Hughes. The Devils' dynamic superstar registered 20 shots over four regular-season matchups versus the Hurricanes, hitting the over in three of four.

Hughes is ultra-efficient with his ice time, and in the playoffs, he's seeing even more of it. Hughes played at least 20 minutes in five of seven opening-round games. He logged 18:33 and 19:33 in the two exceptions, both of which were four-goal games where the end result was well-established long before the game concluded.

The point is, if the game is remotely close, Hughes will play a ton. I don't have much concern about that being the case in Game 1. With so many key injuries up front, scoring goals is a challenge for the Hurricanes, even when they're outplaying the opposition.

Even if the well-rested Hurricanes control the play tonight, I don't see them being clinical enough to put the game away.

Expect Hughes to get a healthy dose of ice time and pile up the shots.

Brent Burns over 3.5 shots (-110)

Burns was a one-man shooting gallery in the first round of the playoffs. He attempted at least eight shots and hit the over in five of six games.

He was particularly effective on home ice, where he generated 16 shots on 31 attempts over three games. Insane production.

As already alluded to, the Hurricanes are missing several key weapons up front. That makes it even more imperative an offensively inclined defenseman like Burns gets involved and helps the team create shots and chances.

He certainly had no problem doing so in Round 1, even against a stingy, slower-paced team like the Islanders.

The Devils - like the Hurricanes - are generally a team to avoid targeting when it comes to shots. However, Burns' volume is so strong he's worth making an exception for.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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Pete DeBoer wishes his Dallas Stars hadn't squandered Joe Pavelski's big night Tuesday with an overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken.

Pavelski provided all of the Stars' offense in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series. He became the oldest player in NHL history to score four goals in a game - in the playoffs or the regular season. However, Yanni Gourde netted the winner in the extra frame to give the Kraken the victory.

"(It was) epic, shame we wasted it and didn't win," the Stars head coach said postgame. "That's on our group because he more than did his part. He tried to drag us to a win (Tuesday night)."

Pavelski had a remarkable game despite having been out of the lineup since Dallas' first-round series opener against the Minnesota Wild on April 17.

The 38-year-old forward, who'll turn 39 on July 11, led all skaters from both clubs with six shots Tuesday night. He also blocked three shots and won all nine of his faceoffs.

"I'm not surprised," DeBoer said. "I should be. Everybody should be. He's the oldest guy on the sheet of ice (Tuesday night) and he was by far the best player on either team. But that's just Joe."

Pavelski showed no signs of slowing down during the regular season, collecting 28 goals and 49 assists while playing all 82 contests. The American notched his 1,000th career point in a win over the Detroit Red Wings on April 10.

Game 2 of the Stars-Kraken series is scheduled for Thursday night in Dallas.

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