Defenseman scores at 2:36 for New Jersey, which cuts Carolina's lead to 2-1 in Eastern 1st Round
Hurricanes at Devils | Recap | Round 1, Game 3
NEWARK, N.J. — Simon Nemec scored at 2:36 of the second overtime, and the New Jersey Devils recovered to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Prudential Center on Friday.
Nemec carried the puck past the blue line, skated between Jack Roslovic and Shayne Gostisbehere, and scored with a shot from the right face-off circle that deflected under Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen‘s blocker and into the net.
“I was so happy. I just don’t, don’t know what I can say,” Nemec said. “… An amazing feeling … but really big, big win for us and an important win.”
It was Nemec’s first career playoff goal in his second game.
“I mean, he comes in and made a play and could see he got confidence in that game especially, he knew he was going to be going out there,” said defenseman Brian Dumoulin, who was on the ice for the winning goal. “We’re going to be relying on him, and we needed him. You can see that he took that moment, he wasn’t scared of it and he took the reins of it, and he played. He played so solid tonight.”
CAR@NJD, Gm3: Nemec wrists home the game winner in the second OT
Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer scored, and Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves for the Devils, who are the No. 3 seed from the Metropolitan Division.
New Jersey trails the best-of-7 series 2-1. Game 4 will be here on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, MAX, truTV, MSGSN, TBS, SN360, TVAS).
“Obviously, feels good,” Hischier said. “I think we really [dug] in deep tonight and came out with a win, a big win for us. And now it’s all about recover and do it again (in Game 4 on Sunday).”
Sebastian Aho had a goal and an assist, and Andersen made 34 saves for the Hurricanes, who are the No. 2 seed from the Metropolitan.
“I mean, we did fight back, tie it up,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “That was an eight minute stretch where we were kind of good. The rest was not our game. You know, there’s a reason they were good. So, it’s tip your hat to New Jersey. They did what they had to do. We were just not very good.”
Hischier gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 16:11 of the first, scoring from in close after taking a lead pass from Timo Meier, who was on the right boards.
Andersen kept the game 1-0 by making a highlight-reel glove save on Meier during a net-mouth scramble at 13:56 of the second period.
“Freddie obviously kept us in that game, really,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said.
Markstrom made a left toe save on Aho, who had a short-handed chance at 2:25 of the second period, to preserve the lead for the Devils.
Mercer then increased the lead to 2-0 at 1:18 of the third with a wraparound at the side of the net.
“It [stinks] but you know, it’s hockey and we’ve all been here. We got better and starting next game, we expect to come out better,” Carolina defenseman Jalen Chatfield said.
Seth Jarvis cut it to 2-1 at 6:11 of the third with a power-play goal.
Aho tied it 2-2 with another power-play goal at 12:20. Andrei Svechnikov got a rebound and fed the puck to Aho, who scored from in front with Markstrom out of position.
The Devils played the final four periods with five defensemen after Johnathan Kovacevic sustained an undisclosed injury in the first period. They were also without defensemen Brenden Dillon and Luke Hughes, who were each out with an undisclosed injury. Jonas Siegenthaler was playing in his first game since Feb. 4 after being out with a lower-body injury.
“I’m just so impressed with our team tonight,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. “The defense in particular. So fitting that Nemec gets the game-winner for us. Our whole team, just the way we dug in tonight, stayed with it.”
CAR@NJD, Gm3: Mercer pokes it home to extend the lead
The Hurricanes killed all five Devils power plays, including two in overtime, and scored two power-play goals.
“Obviously, our special teams was great. Really kind of gave us the opportunity to maybe win the game,” Staal said. “But our 5-on-5 play was average, below average really. You could feel it in overtime.”
New Jersey outshot the Hurricanes 12-3 after regulation.
“It was a very important game tonight and I think the fans at ‘The Rock’ tonight, they carried us for that overtime,” Markstrom said. “And I thought we played a really hard-fought game with five D-men most of the game. We battled. That’s what we’ve been doing all season and what we’re going to continue to do.”
NOTES: Nemec (21 years, 69 days) became the second-youngest defenseman in NHL history to score an overtime goal in the playoffs, behind only Andrei Zyuzin (20 years, 97 days in Game 4 of 1998 conference quarterfinals). … Siegenthaler played 27:09 and had five hits and three blocked shots … Dumoulin played a game-high 36:24 and was plus-2 with four hits and five blocked shots. … There was no update on Kovacevic after the game. … New Jersey was 0-for-5 on the power play and is 0-for-10 in the series. … It was the longest game in the history of Prudential Center, which opened in 2007. … The Hurricanes fell to 1-11 all-time in multiovertime games.
🔹Ottawa Senators vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
🔹Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
🔹Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals
🔹New Jersey Devils vs. Carolina Hurricanes
🔹St. Louis Blues vs. Winnipeg Jets
🔹Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars
🔹Minnesota Wild vs. Vegas Golden Knights
🔹Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings
