Devils drop Hurricanes 4-2 for third straight win – Hockey Writers – NHL News

The New Jersey Devils faced their division rival Carolina Hurricanes on Friday evening as part of a home-and-home against them. They came out with a win in the first round, when they beat the Hurricanes on the road 4-2. Jacob Markstrom made 29 of 31 stops, with a +3.99 goals-save average. (via MoneyPuck)

The Devils have now won three in a row and will be fighting for a fourth tomorrow night. They moved to 24-11-3, while the Hurricanes dropped to 21-13-1.

The Devils were buzzing early, but the Hurricanes struck first when Eric Robinson knocked a loose puck past Markstrom. The Devils responded quickly with two of their own: Ondrej Palat deflected off Kochetkov, and after 42 seconds, Nico Hischier scored on a 2-on-1.

Just 22 seconds into the second, Brent Burns tallied two points. But Luke Hughes fired past Pyotr Kochetkov to put the Devils ahead.

You'd like Luke to find an open puck and an open net. 👀 pic.twitter.com/2i0xaLOpWE

– New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) December 28, 2024

Then, Dawson Mercer hit a home run to cut the lead to 4-2, scoring twice. The Devils thought Hischier had scored shortly after, as the puck appeared to have been knocked around the crease. But after a review, it was deemed that there was a whistle, so no goal was awarded. The score remained 4-2 at the hour mark as Markstrom made a key save when he needed to.

In the third quarter, the Devils shut down the opposition as they have done in almost every third quarter. They are now 19-0-1 this season when leading after two.

Sheldon Keefe said Hockey Writers, “We were not at our level here today, you know, today's game is good that we can win today, it will not be good to win tomorrow. We have to be better; we will look at it and look at other things strategically that we can do better and strengthen. Today was not a defensive art.”

Carolina's 31 shots are the most the Devils have allowed in a long time, but at the end of the day, two points matter. This “not satisfied” attitude from Keefe is a big reason why the Devils have been so successful. You want more from them, and you get more.

The teams will meet again at 7:00 PM on Saturday night at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.