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E-Edition
NEWARK – Long after the final whistle sounded in the Carolina Hurricanes’ 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first round series matchup put them on the brink of advancing, the whiteboard in the cramped visiting locker room was largely wiped of any lineup info, and only a few indistinguishable squiggles remained on the diagram of the rink, faint memories of set plays that have already faded away.
Only information about the team’s travel plans and the meal they’d be provided on a short, 65-minute flight back to Raleigh remained. It’s safe to say that the various options of roasted barbecue, 14 oz. ribeye or strip steak, salmon or pasta tasted a little better than usual.
The Devils could never overcome an overwhelming start by the Hurricanes; Carolina never lost an early three-goal lead, and Andrei Svechnikov scored the second playoff hat trick in franchise history to give his team a chance to clinch the series on Tuesday night at home.
“I love this time of year,” Svechnikov wryly said in the post-game press conference.
That would seem to be an understatement.
The owner of the other postseason three-goal game in Hurricanes history? That would also be Svechnikov, who joined Wayne Gretzky, Daniel Alfredsson, Doug Bentley and Paul Reinhart as the only players to record the first two playoff hat tricks in their franchise’s history.
One year after being bounced in the second round by the New York Rangers, Carolina is one game away from a return to that stage, set for a likely matchup against the Washington Capitals, who also hold a three games-to-one lead in their series against the Montreal Canadiens.
“It’s a good feeling, obviously,” said Hurricanes veteran forward Jordan Staal. “You want to be in our position, and you want to be going home and taking it to them in front of our fans. It’s always a fun building to play in, and I know the fans are ready. We’re happy where we’re at right now, but the last one is always the hardest, always, no matter what. We’ve got a huge game ahead of us, and we’ve got to give it all we have to end it, so we know it’ll be a good game.”
They may, however, have to do it without their starting goaltender.
Frederik Andersen suffered an undisclosed injury in a collision with Timo Meier early in the second period, and was replaced for the rest of the game by Pyotr Kochetkov, who allowed a goal to Meier shortly after entering the game, but held down the fort otherwise in the win.
Originally ruled a five-minute major against Meier, it was overturned entirely and ruled no penalty at all upon review, which infuriated Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour, but just as predictably was lauded by Devils bench boss Sheldon Keefe.
“From my perspective, it looked like it was pretty incidental,” Keefe said. “They told me that looking at it was just confirming what they thought on the ice, which was that it wasn’t a penalty.”
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