On Wednesday night, the New Jersey Devils clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the New York Rangers on Wednesday evening, punching New Jersey's ticket to the postseason.
New Jersey (41-30-7) is third in the Metropolitan Division with 89 points. The club sits seven points back from second-place Carolina Hurricanes, their first-round opponent.
"We have had an eye toward this for quite some time," head coach Sheldon Keefe said on Thursday. "This is a team we have not played in a while. We were diligent about our notes and the things we wanted to keep on file and keep top of mind from the last time we played them."
It marks the Devils' return to the playoffs after missing last season and the sixth time Keefe's NHL team has qualified for the postseason.
Winger Jesper Bratt leads the Devils and is 10th in the NHL with 88 points (21 goals, 67 assists) in 78 games this season. Captain Nico Hischier has a career-high 35 goals.
"It is nice we know who we are playing," Hischier said of his team's first-round matchup. "We still have four games left and want to focus on that first, and making sure we feel good about ourselves. I know it is not easy to make the playoffs. It is the first step that we wanted to achieve. I think we earned it throughout the year. Now it's about building our game and getting ready for Game 1."
The Devils have the third-best power play percentage (27.9 percent) and penalty kill (82.6 percent) in the NHL.
The Devils have met the Hurricanes in the playoffs five times. New Jersey won the first season series in 2001, but Carolina won the last four series. This season, the two teams split their regular season series, with the Devils winning twice in New Jersey and the Hurricanes winning both games in Raleigh.
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