RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Logan Stankoven scored two second-period goals in his first playoff game with Carolina as the Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on Sunday to open their first-round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Jalen Chatfield scored a first-period goal for the Hurricanes, who carried a 3-0 lead late into the second period and kept consistent pressure on Devils netminder Jacob Markstrom. Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net clincher late in the third.
Frederik Andersen finished with 23 saves for Carolina, including a key stop on Timo Meier near the crease midway through the third. The Hurricanes also turned away a Devils power play with about eight minutes left to stay in firm control.
Nico Hischier got New Jersey on the board by taking Jesper Bratt’s cross-ice pass and blasting the puck past Andersen during a 4-on-4 chance.
Markstrom finished with 41 saves on what turned out to be a rough afternoon physically for the Devils, who saw defenseman Brenden Dillon skating to the tunnel in the second period, then fellow blue-liner Luke Hughes and forward Cody Glass skating off after a single chaotic sequence in the third.
It was a quality start for Carolina, which had lost seven of its last eight regular-season games since clinching its seventh straight playoff trip on April 3. In that sense, it had been a long wait to get to the playoffs — and be healthy, at that — for the Hurricanes.
Carolina finished with a 45-24 shot advantage.
Chatfield got the Hurricanes off to a quick start with a goal just 2:24 into the game. Then it was a big day for Stankoven, who was the primary return in a trade-deadline deal that allowed Carolina to pivot out of its big-swing January addition of scoring winger Mikko Rantanen.
Stankoven first zipped the puck past Markstrom off a feed from Jordan Martinook, who had forced Hischier into a turnover along the boards, at 6:37 of the second. He struck again on the power play, with Stankoven blasting a shot past Markstrom and off the inside of the left post for the 3-0 edge.
Game 2 against the Devils is set for Tuesday in Raleigh. The series then shifts to Newark, New Jersey, for Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on April 27.
If necessary, Game 5 will take place in Raleigh on April 29, Game 6 will be May 2 in Newark and Game 7 on May 4 back in Raleigh.