NHL PLAYOFF ROUNDUP: Hurricanes jump out to a 2-0 lead over Devils in round two with a 6-1 win as Carolina’s Jesperi Kotkaniemi scores twice in three minutes
- The Devils return home on Sunday to host Game 3 and face another 0-2 hole
- Kotkaniemi scored twice in three minutes, while Carolina scored four in the second
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The New Jersey Devils are back in the familiar position of 2-0 down in their playoff series with the Carolina Hurricanes after Friday’s 6-1 blowout in Raleigh.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored twice in about 2 1/2 minutes during Carolina’s second four-goal period and Frederik Andersen stopped 28 shots as the Hurricanes took a commanding lead in their series in the second round.
Jordan Staal and Martin Necas also scored in that stellar second, turning a scoreless game between the two top regular season teams still alive in the playoffs into a lightning fast Hurricanes victory with the support of another rowdy home crowd.
It also marked the second game in a row that the Hurricanes chased Devils netminder Akira Schmid. He lasted just a few minutes in the second period of the 5-1 loss in Game 1, taking his place after the second with his team trailing 4-0.
Jordan Martinook and Stefan Noesen provided decisive goals in the third period to cap off another dominating evening for Carolina.
Kotkaniemi of the Hurricanes reacts after his second goal of the second period
Kotkaniemi puts Devil’s goalkeeper Akira Schmid on his second goal of the second period
Miles Wood scored early in the third inning for the Devils, but Andersen was strong in his third consecutive postseason start for Carolina, going back to victory in Round 1 against the New York Islanders.
The Devils return home on Sunday to host Game 3 and face a 0-2 hole for the second straight best-of-seven series. They lost their first two home games 5–1 in the first round against the New York Rangers before rallying to advance to Monday’s Game 7 tiebreaker.
This time they were beaten 11-2 in two games.
Kotkaniemi’s first goal came as he passed alone on the right, then skated to the spot before firing a shot that passed under Schmid’s right arm and grazed his ribs before finding the net at 1:35.
Moments later, Martinook—whose activity had him in the mix all night—skated in to tangle two Devils players in a possession chase near the boards. That helped free the puck to skitter to Kotkaniemi for the near-post putaway at 3:58.
The Hurricanes kept the pressure on. There was Jack Drury reeling in the puck at the blue line for Staal as the Hurricanes captain extended his six-foot frame to stabilize it before going with the forehand-to-backhand finish and the 3-0 lead .
Jordan Staal celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal in the second period
And finally, Martin Necas made one out of the slot after Jaccob Slavin hurriedly caught the right post, pushing the margin to 4-0 and only increasing the already roaring noise in PNC Arena shortly before the break.
The Hurricanes dominated the opening period of Game 1, choked the Devils to clear open ice while scoring more goals (two) than New Jersey had shots (one).
Knowing they couldn’t repeat that effort, the Devils said the same thing on Thursday, noting they needed to get pucks to the net and use their speed to force Carolina to expend energy defending into his own side instead of rolling with his aggressive advance.
New Jersey carried the game through the first 10 minutes. But toward the end of this, Carolina fourth a blowout with Martinook’s breakaway score against reliever Vitek Vanecek, followed closely by Noesen’s putaway on a perfect 2-on-1 feed from Sebastian Aho.