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It was an impressive blend of both offense and
defense for the Hurricanes, as the Devils couldn't generate
consistent pressure against Carolina's blanketing forecheck and
backcheck.
While the Hurricanes finished the game with a relatively even
23-18 shots advantage, Carolina set the defensive tone early by
outshooting New Jersey 10-1 during a lopsided first period.
Nathan Bastian had the only goal for the Devils, who also lost
by a 5-1 score in each of the first two games of their
first-round series with the New York Rangers.
Jarvis' goal 14:43 into the first period was emblematic of
Carolina's performance at both ends of the ice, as he started
the play with a takeaway in the Hurricanes' zone. Jarvis then
took the puck down the boards, turned toward the Devils' net,
and capped off the individual effort with his third goal of the
playoffs.
Kotkaniemi's goal at 1:55 of the second period gave Carolina a
3-0 lead and chased Devils starting goaltender Akira Schmid from
the game. Schmid allowed three goals on 11 shots, while Vitek
Vanecek stopped 10 of 11 shots in the relief effort.
Once the Devils' offense started to heat up, Andersen prevented
New Jersey from gaining any momentum. Injury and illness have
limited Andersen to just two appearances this postseason, but
the goalie is 2-0 with an outstanding .962 save percentage.
New Jersey was 0-for-2 on the power play, as the Hurricanes'
penalty-kill unit continued to dominate. Carolina was second in
the NHL in penalty-kill percentage during the regular season,
and it has killed off 19 of 20 penalties in the playoffs.
Game 2 is on Friday in Raleigh.
--Field Level Media
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