On Sunday afternoon, the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes clashed for a pivotal Game 4 in front of a sold-out Prudential Center crowd. In a pretty tight contest, the Hurricanes’ success on special teams helped them to a 5-2 victory. They now lead the series three games to one. In relief of an injured Frederik Andersen, Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 14 of 15 (.933%) for his second career playoff win.
Just 52 seconds in, Andrei Svechnikov spun around from 47 feet out and sent an innocent shot through, which found its’ way past Markstrom. The Hurricanes continued to pressure the Devils over the next few minutes. It finally looked like they’d escape a long shift but Stefan Noesen couldn’t get the puck out with a lot of open ice in front of him. Jaccob Slavin stripped it and roofed it from a sharp angle to make it 2-0 Canes.
JACCOB SLAVIN DOES IT ALL pic.twitter.com/pl7R30yx5X
Dougie Hamilton took an interference penalty late in the first. The penalty carried over to the start of the second, where Svechnikov tapped one in to make it 3-0. Special teams have continued to plague the Devils all series; Sheldon Keefe said postgame, “We expect better of ourselves…it’s one thing to have a plan, it’s another to execute.”
Moments later, Nico Hischier struck off a great feed from Timo Meier to make it 3-1. Then things got dicey for the Canes. Meier drove the crease and collided with Frederik Andersen, who immediately went down and had to leave the game. The officials called a five-minute major so they could give it a proper review, which determined that there was no penalty on the play.
Meier wasn’t done leaving his prints on the game, as he quickly threw a puck through Kochetkov following an offensive zone draw, making it 3-2 and bringing the building back to life. That’s where the score remained into the third, as the Devils continued to tilt the ice and generate chances. But with 5:48 to go, Markstrom let a Brent Burns shot leak through, doubling the Canes’ lead to 4-2.
Markstrom then came off for the extra attacker with about 3:30 left, but the Devils immediately turned the puck over and Svechnikov deposited the puck into the empty net, completing the hat-trick and sealing the deal.
The Hurricanes will try to close out the series as they return home to Lenovo Center on Tues. Apr. 29 (7:30 PM EDT).
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