The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Thursday to win their second-round series 4-1.
The Carolina Hurricanes celebrate a second-period goal in Game 5 of the second round.The Carolina Hurricanes are the first team to book their ticket to the 2022-23 NHL conference finals.
It took extra time on Thursday night’s Game 5, but the Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 to win the series 4-1. The Canes avoided a third straight second-round elimination as they advance to the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 2018-19.
Dawson Mercer gave the Devils a 1-0 lead in the first period before the Hurricanes tied it on a goal by Jaccob Slavin. Timo Meier regained New Jersey’s lead, but Brent Burns responded before the end of the second frame.
Nobody scored in the third period, but the Hurricanes fired 11 shots on Devils goalie Akira Schmid to New Jersey’s five.
The Hurricanes kept their momentum heading into overtime with chance after chance looking like it’d be the series-clincher. Devils defender Jonas Siegenthaler tried to clear the puck out of their zone but flipped it over the glass, causing him to go to the box for delay of game.
Carolina made no mistake. Jesperi Kotkaniemi fired a shot on net from the top of the faceoff circle to Schmid’s left, and Jesper Fast parked right in front of the Devils netminder. The puck deflected off Fast and into the net, ending the series then and there.
It was a game uncharacteristic of the series – every other match was decided by at least a four-goal difference.
The Hurricanes struck first with a 5-1 victory at home. Kotkaniemi then notched two goals early into Game 2, the second holding up as the game-winner in a 6-1 Canes win.
New Jersey found itself in the same 2-0 series deficit as Round 1 against the New York Rangers, but it felt tougher to overcome this time against the No. 2 team in the regular season. They nevertheless made it interesting in the Prudential Center as Jack Hughes recorded two goals and two assists in an 8-4 Devils win.
The Devils were one game away from levelling the series at two games apiece, and Jack Hughes opened the scoring 1:55 into Game 4. But Martin Necas led the response, scoring two straight before his teammates added another four markers in another 6-1 Hurricanes victory.
Jordan Martinook was on fire in the series, leading the NHL’s second round with nine points in four games heading into Thursday’s matchups. He added an assist on Slavin’s goal in Game 5 to record his 10th point of the series.
As for the Devils, their memorable bounce-back season has come to an end, but there’s still hope for a long-term competitive future. Schmid turns 23 years old on Friday, and stopping 36 of 39 shots on Thursday for a .923 save percentage shows he stood strong in an elimination game and could have earned himself a full-time role in the NHL next season. Add that to Jack Hughes’ 11 points in the playoffs and his 99 points in the regular season, and there are signs of a promising future.
But none of that matters anymore in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, as the Hurricanes now await their next opponent – they’ll face either the Florida Panthers or Toronto Maple Leafs, who play again on Friday.