| New Jersey Devils | 1 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 6 |
| last | |
Raleigh, North Carolina – Jesperi Kotkaniemi started with a four-goal barrage in the second period to help lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils and a 2-0 series lead in the second round.
Kotkaniemi scored the first two goals for Keynes in 2:23. He put Carolina on the board with a power play goal with just 1:35 into the second when he kicked a shot off the wrist of Devils goaltender Akira Schmid.
The Hurricanes followed up that goal with a series of on-netting chances, culminating in Kotkaniemi scoring again from close range.
Carolina continued to record in groups. Captain Jordan Staal hit the backhand with 2:35 left in the period to make it 3-0.
With the PNC Arena crowd already in a frenzy, Canes continued to charge, and Martin Necas scored the final goal of the period with 15.1 seconds on the clock. Schmid was pulled early for the second straight game.
Carolina held the scoring in the third period with Jordan Martinuk hitting the top shelf on a breakaway goal to make it 5-1 with 7:12 to play.
Stefan Nuessen scored after just 54 seconds, after a beautiful pass from Sebastian Ahu.
Starting goaltender Fredrik Andersen again for the Hurricanes, he stopped 28 of the 29 he faced. The only goal Andersen allowed came from Miles Wood with 16:10 remaining in the third period.
The Hurricane announced before Ante Ranta, the goalkeeper of the competition, will miss the match due to illness.
The series has been all but Hurricanes so far after Carolina beat New Jersey 5-1 in Game 1 on Wednesday.
Carolina took a 2-0 lead for the fourth straight series. The Cannes led Boston 2-0 in the first round in 2022 before falling behind in seven games. There was another 2-0 lead against the New York Rangers, who pushed Carolina to the brink and dominated Game 7 in Raleigh. In 2021, the Canes led Nashville 2-0 before holding on to win the series 4-2.
The series shifts to New Jersey for Game 3 on Sunday and Game 4 on Tuesday. WRAL’s Kacy Hintz will be covering those games at the Prudential Center.
“Infuriatingly humble internet trailblazer. Twitter buff. Beer nerd. Bacon scholar. Coffee practitioner.”
