New Jersey Devils throttle the Carolina Hurricanes winning 8-4 and making it a 2-1 series

Jack Hughes scored twice, collected two assists and won a battle as the New Jersey Devils took control with a three-goal first period and on Sunday afternoon to an 8-4 victory over the visiting Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of their semifinal series. in Newark, New Jersey

Carolina leads the best-of-seven series 2-1 with Game 4 on Tuesday in Newark. Facing a 2-0 deficit for the second straight series, the Devils secured the series’ return to Raleigh, NC. The home team has won every match in this series so far.

Hughes scored New Jersey’s second goal for his first score since Game 4 of the quarterfinals against the New York Rangers.

He also recorded the primary assist as Timo Meier opened the scoring and got the secondary assist with a pass to brother Luke Hughes that led to Damon Severson’s goal in the second.

Michael McLeod scored a low-handed goal in the first, marking his second home game in a row with a goal on the penalty kill.

It was an excellent evening for Jack Hughes, New Jersey’s star center, who showed up

Hughes scored two goals and two assists as he became the first star of the night

Hughes also won his bout with Carolina center Sebastian Aho, furthering the beating

Nico Hischier scored a goal and collected an assist as Miles Wood completed a breakout early in the third inning.

Dawson Mercer collected three assists, while Luke Hughes, John Marino, and Jesper Bratt contributed two assists each, as the Devils scored their most goals in the postseason since a 10–4 victory over Washington in Game 3 of the 1988 Patrick Division Final.

After Akira Schmid allowed seven goals in two lopsided losses, New Jersey turned to Vitek Vanecek. Vanecek made 26 saves in his first start since Game 2 against the Rangers on April 20.

Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes and Jordan Martin also scored on a penalty with 7:42 left in the second as Carolina fell short.

Jordan Staal and Seth Jarvis scored 50 seconds apart in the third inning.

Frederik Andersen allowed four goals on 12 shots before being pulled. With Antti Raanta held out due to illness, Pyotr Kochetkov allowed four goals on 22 shots.

The Hurricanes were also not without goals – including one from Seth Jarvis (24)

It was a great game for Vitek Vanecek, who returned to the net for the first time since April

Meier opened the scoring with 5:58 when he got a pass from Jack Hughes from behind the net and put the puck into the left post.

The Devils took a 2–0 lead nearly five minutes later when Jack Hughes ripped Andersen’s shot from the bottom of the left circle.

McLeod made it 3-0 with 7:29 left as he raced down the left past Carolina’s Brent Burns and Jarvis, stopped before the crease and then slid the puck through Andersen’s legs.

The Devils chased Andersen when Hischier scored 53 seconds into the second inning after Bratt’s underhanded pass came off Brett Pesce’s skate.

PANTHERS 3, MAPLE LEAVES 2

Sam Reinhart scored 3:02 into overtime as the Florida Panthers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Sunday night to take a commanding 3-0 lead in their series of Eastern Conference semifinals.

Reinhart threw the puck off the boards behind the net to set up his game winner. He took a pass back from Anton Lundell and scored to give Florida its first 3–0 series lead in 27 years.

Anthony Duclair and Carter Verhaeghe scored for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 shots.

Sam Lafferty and Erik Gustafsson scored for Toronto. Joseph Woll stopped 18 of 21 he faced for the Maple Leafs after relieving starter Ilya Samsonov, who stopped all eight shots he faced before leaving with an injury early in the second period.

Game 4 is Wednesday night.

Panthers center Sam Reinhart (13) scores the game-winning goal against the Maple Leafs

KRAKEN 7, STARS 2

The Kraken took a 2-1 lead in their Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Dallas Stars after Seattle’s one-sided 7-2 win on Sunday night.

Seattle spread the score throughout the night as each of their seven goals was scored by a different player.

Mason Marchment and Jani Hakanpaa were the only two players to score goals for Dallas.