A strong start and a composed finish helped propel the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-2 win Sunday afternoon in Game 4 in New Jersey.

Andrei Svechnikov got the team rolling right away as he fired a puck through traffic that Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom never saw, putting Carolina on the board less than one minute into the game.

Then, before the halfway mark of the period, Jaccob Slavin had one of the best goals of the postseason, knocking down an attempted clear and then sniping one over Markstrom's shoulder after streaking down the wing.

The power play also continued to produce as Svechnikov grabbed his second of the game to start the second period, as he redirected a Seth Jarvis feed into the net.

The Carolina Hurricanes were rolling.

A hot start, three straight goals, defensively stalwart.

Everything was looking good.

And then Frederik Andersen got hurt.

Early in the second period, Devils forward Timo Meier went hard to the crease and collided straight into Andersen, who absorbed most of the contact to his head.

The Danish netminder exited the game and would not return, leaving 25 year old Pyotr Kochetkov to man the net.

New Jersey had already cut the lead right before the injury to Andersen, with Nico Hischier scoring his third goal of the series by cleaning up a loose puck out front, but it wouldn't take long for them to grab another.

Kochetkov, facing just his second shot of the game, was just completely unprepared for a Meier spinning shot from the half wall following a Brent Burns turnover and it went right under the Canes' netminder's pads. 

Carolina was in dire straits.

But experience and composure go a long way and the Hurricanes have a lot of it. This is a team in its seventh consecutive playoffs and they know how to calm themselves down.

Kochetkov and the team tightened up after that leaky goal, and just gave New Jersey nothing more.

The team kept that tight defense up into the third period and eventually, the Canes broke through again.

Markstrom turned the puck over on an attempted clear and Burns picked it up and sent it right back on net, (a two-point, strong bounce back game for the veteran) where it trickled through the Devils netminder thanks to some help from Jordan Martinook.

And then to cap it off, Svechnikov found the empty net, sealing the game with his second career postseason hat trick. 

Svechnikov remains the only player in franchise history to score a hat trick in the playoffs and he's now also tied for the league lead in playoff goals (4).

The Canes will return to Raleigh with a 3-1 series lead and on Tuesday, will look to advance to the second round.

We'll also await an update on Andersen.

Be sure to check out the Carolina Hurricanes 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Hub for all postseason stories!  

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