The Carolina Hurricanes became the first team to advance to the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Tuesday night, as they defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-4 in double overtime of Game 5.

The Canes had a furious second-period rally to overcome an early 3-0 hole and just never looked back.

Here are five takeaways from the game:

Sebastian Aho: Mr. Clutch

The Hurricanes' number one forward came through in the clutch once again.

Sebastian Aho — who is the franchise's all-time leader in postseason goals, assists and points — scored his second career overtime, series-clinching goal Tuesday night to send his team to the second round.

Aho had a two-goal, three-point performance in Game 5, including the tying fourth goal and the double overtime winner.

The Finnish center now has 10 goals and 15 points in the 14 potential series-clinching games he's played in.

Talk about clutch.

"It felt unreal," Aho said of series-winning moment. "Just blacked out for a second there. Crowd goes nuts and guys are jumping up on you. It's unreal. A really good feeling."

Andrei Svechnikov Willing The Team Back Into The Fight

The Canes' first period was atrocious, but there was one guy doing his all to drag the team back into the game: Andrei Svechnikov.

The Russian winger was on his game once again, setting a new career-high in shots on goal with nine — five of which came in the initial frame.

Svechnikov was doing his all to keep his team going and once they finally did, he played a big part in the eventual win too.

Not only did he score the third goal of the game on a wicked wrister, but he also played a big role in the Canes' two power play goals as well.

Svechnikov had a tough regular season, but it's clear that he's coming up big in the playoffs.

"I don't want to say we forgot what it was like, but he went through a stretch there where he was just, 'Eh,' but now, it's like, there it is," Brind'Amour said. "That's the guy that we all love. He was firing pucks and just every shift that he was out there, I was like, 'They're going to get one,' and he did. After the first, that line especially I thought was really good."

Pyotr Kochetkov's Rally

It was far from an ideal start for Pyotr Kochetkov.

The Russian netminder conceded three goals on the Devils' first eight shots and the fourth one within the first 18 he faced.

It wasn't like they were all solely on him, as most of the goals came as a result of in-zone turnovers or blown coverages, but still, you need a netminder to be a difference maker regardless.

After that fourth goal, it just looked like the kind of game where a young goalie like Kochetkov would have been all up in his own mind, but something changed for him after that fourth goal.

"He has a real good ability, I think, to just move on," Brind'Amour said on Kochetkov. "Changing the goalie at that point... it wasn't on him. I mean, everybody was junk. It could have been to wake the group up. Maybe if there was another one. But it wasn't on him. That's for sure."

Kochetkov stopped the next 17 shots he faced, including all six that he faced while shorthanded.

The three biggest moments for him were when the Devils had two power plays late in the third period, both of which generated dangerous looks, and then the end of the first overtime as Jesper Bratt nearly scored a buzzer beater off of a bad turnover.

If New Jersey scores on one of those, this series is still going on.

So the way he composed himself and settled in for the second half of the game was key for the victory, and he did his part to support the team that had his back with all of those goals.

"In the second period, I just came to him and said, 'Brother. I believe in you. You're the best goalie. Just put that in your head. Let's go,'" Svechnikov said.

Special Teams, Once Again, Comes Up Big

Who would have thought that this would be how the special teams battle turned out?

Carolina absolutely feasted on New Jersey this series, scoring a plethora of power play goals while conceding zero on the penalty kill and Tuesday was no different.

The penalty kill was technically a perfect 3-for-3, although the Devils did score right at the tail end of their first opportunity, but the work that the killers did all series was admirable.

They finish the series 15-for-15 on the kill, having outscored New Jersey 1-0.

"There's nothing really to say other than we have the best penalty kill," Svechnikov said.

And the power play, what a turnaround it's been for those units.

The man advantage had a terrible regular season, but they've been crucial these playoffs, especially in big moments.

"I liked our power play today," Aho said. "We were working hard and obviously got two big goals. We've scored some big goals in the series. I thought, even the ones we didn't score on, we were working and moving the puck and executing the plays. You're obviously not going to score every time, but I thought we were pretty dialed in in this series."

The Canes scored twice on the power play last night, Aho scoring both the tying goal and the ultimate winner, but it was good all series.

Carolina scored six goals in 19 power play opportunities, a 31.6% success rate, and looked dangerous even when they weren't scoring.

"I think we just got the plan in our head," Svechnikov said. "We're moving the puck very well and trying to put the puck more at the net and be around the net and look for those rebounds and all that stuff. Great retrievals too. But like I said, moving the puck and having a plan in our head."

They'll need both to stay hot as they progress through the postseason.

Rookie Power

While there's been a lot of talk on the team's maturity and experience, there's also a lot to say about it's youth, especially with two of their rookies.

Logan Stankoven has integrated himself well in Carolina and is proving to be an impactful player on the ice.

It was his shot that got the team right back into Tuesday's game and he finishes the five-game series with two goals and three points in total.

While not his first playoff run, it's still impressive to see a player like him be as reliable as he was.

"He's been a real welcome addition to this group," Brind'Amour said. "He's skilled, talented and I think he's just starting to get going. There's a lot more to his game because he's just a young kid. He's stepped in here and done a great job."

And then there's Jackson Blake.

A fourth-round pick, who just last year was playing college hockey up in North Dakota, and now, he's making an impact on the biggest stage in hockey.

He made the Hurricanes roster out of training camp and never looked back, as he's now a relied upon difference maker on not only the top line, but also the top power play unit. 

"What more can you say about him?," Brind'Amour said. "He was in college hockey last year and now he's sitting here on the top line and contributing. And he's earned every minute of it. Came in and just kept getting better and better and to me, was one of the better players in this series. Noticeable and again, a great addition for us."

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