NEWARK, N.J. _ It's officially a fifth straight season out of the playoffs for the Devils.
And that's just been one of the difficulties Devils captain Andy Greene, the team's nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, dedication and sportsmanship, has faced this season.
The Devils lost, 3-1, to the Hurricanes on Saturday night at Prudential Center, missing a chance to sweep the season series and losing the last two points they could afford to lose without being eliminated from playoff consideration.
"It's not something that I've spent time the last few days worrying about," Devils coach John Hynes said. "I think we know the situation we're in now. Obviously, we're not happy with it, let's not brush that under the carpet."
Sebastian Aho scored twice for the Hurricanes (33-27-13), on a 7-0-3 streak to make a late playoff push, and Eddie Lack made 26 saves.
Cory Schneider stopped 26 shots for the Devils (27-35-12).
Unfortunately for Greene, his signature moment in this game came when he was stripped of the puck by Jeff Skinner, who scored on the ensuing breakaway to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead at 9:34 of the third period. Aho then added his second goal on a sharp-angle shot from the right at 16:46. That came seconds after rookie Blake Pietila, who earlier in the period had been stopped on a breakaway, was unable to slip the puck past Lack's left pads at the crease.
Greene, 34, an undrafted free agent out of Miami (Ohio) in his second season as captain, was selected as a Masterton candidate for the second straight season by the Devils' chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. The Panthers' Jaromir Jagr was last season's Masterton winner.
"It's a huge honor," said Greene, expected to play his 700th career game, all with the Devils, on Sunday against the visiting Stars. "Whenever you get nominated for an award, you're always very appreciative and very thankful for the opportunity. It's been a long road here."
The winner among three finalists, as voted upon by the PWHA, will be announced at the NHL Awards show in Las Vegas in June after the Stanley Cup Final.
Greene had his ironman streak of 350 straight games played, the third longest in Devils' history, snapped when he missed 12 games with a broken left hand from Jan. 6-31. And he missed four more games March 4-9 when his father, David, passed away. David Greene did accompany the Devils' on their second annual Dads' trip Dec. 29-31.
"I'm very thankful for him to go on that one, especially this year, I wasn't quite sure he was going to come," Greene said. "He was feeling fine then. I was hoping it wasn't going to be the last one he was going to be on but you never know. You make sure you enjoy it."
Through it all, Greene, the team's No. 1 defenseman and ice-time leader, plus a contributor to both the power play and penalty kill, has remained an exemplary on- and off-ice leader.
"He's such a good guy," rookie left wing John Quenneville said. "He's got time for everybody. Just to acknowledge you around the rink means a lot for a young player."
"He's such an upfront, honest guy," Hynes added. "He cares about people, he cares about teammates. He certainly cares about the organization."
The Hurricanes took a 1-0 lead at 2:47 of the second period as Elias Lindholm, from behind the crease, fed Aho for a one-timer. Travis Zajac tied it at 1 at 17:03 of the second on a transition goal set up by Taylor Hall's feed.
Still, the Devils have now lost two straight and four of their last five.
And can officially now wait until next season.
