RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes got goals from Brett Pesce and Seth Jarvis alongside a suffocating defensive performance in the opening period to jump quickly on the New Jersey Devils for a 5-1 win Wednesday night in the opener of their second-round playoff series.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Brady Skeji and Jesper Fast also scored for the Hurricanes, who used a swarming effort to take control that took the Devils completely out of any type of first-period flow. New Jersey managed a single shot on goal for the period compared to both Pesce and Jarvis finding the net, then Kotkaniemi followed early in the second for a 3-0 lead that chased Devils rookie goalie Akira Schmid to the bench.
Game 2 is Friday night in Raleigh.
Nathan Bastian scored for the Devils, who played this one without trade-acquisition Timo Meier following his huge hit from New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba during Monday’s Game 7 win. Bastian’s goal came when he got loose coming into the zone to beat Andersen at 5:02 of the second period and cut the deficit to 3-1, but the Devils got not closer.
The Hurricanes went back to Frederik Andersen in net over Antti Raanta after Andersen got his first start of the playoffs in the Game 6 clincher against the New York Islanders.
He finished with 18 saves, though the first part of his night was fairly calm with the Hurricanes taking away space from the Devils at every turn.
Pesce scored on a low-flying shot through traffic to beat Schmid, then Jarvis blew past Ryan Graves near the blue line to skate in and beat Schmid over his glove for the 2-0 lead that proved to be enough.
Kotkaniemi’s putaway off a feed from Jordan Martinook at 1:55 of the second was enough to send Schmid to the bench after surrendering three goals on 11 shots.
Vitek Vanecek had 10 saves on 11 shots in relief.
NOTES
PLAYOFFS: The Seattle Kraken and Florida Panthers both had to quickly go from Game 7 victories on the road to starting their second rounds as visitors again just two days later.
The supposed underdogs carried momentum from those series clinchers into Game 1 wins against teams that had some extra rest. The Kraken and Panthers have the opportunity Thursday night to to grab 2-0 series leads before finally going home.
“A quick turnaround, there’s a disadvantage in terms of the amount of energy, right. You don’t have the rest, you don’t have the luxury of a little bit of practice time, but you are in a rhythm,” said Kraken Coach Dave Hakstol, whose team eliminated defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado in seven games.
The second-year Kraken opened the Western Conference semifinals with a 5-4 overtime win in Dallas, even after blowing a two-goal lead in the third period while 38-year-old Joe Pavelski scored all four goals for the Stars in his first game back since going into concussion protocol two weeks earlier.
Dallas also dropped its first-round opener at home, in double overtime, but recovered to beat Minnesota in six games.
After overcoming a 3-1 series deficit and ending top-seeded Boston’s record-setting season with a Game 7 win, Florida, like Seattle, squandered a two-goal lead in the second-round opener before winning 4-2 in Toronto, which had not played since Saturday.
“It’s a really focused group. I think it is training,” Panthers Coach Paul Maurice said. “We played pretty damn hard and pretty well.”
Florida was 16-18-4 after a 5-3 loss to the New York Rangers on New Year’s Day and stood 13th in the 16-team Eastern Conference standings. The Panthers went 26-14-4 the rest of the way to finish one point ahead of Pittsburgh for the East’s final playoff spot before dispatching the 65-win Bruins.
Game 1 winners have gone on to win 68% of best-of-seven series in the NHL playoffs, though that hasn’t applied to this postseason so far. Carolina and Seattle were the only teams among eight Game 1 winners in the first round to advance.
Any win is big in the playoffs, especially on the road,” said Justin Schultz, one of five Seattle scorers in Game 1 against Dallas. “It’s nice to get the 1-0 lead but there’s a lot of work left to do. We know they’re going to be better next game.”
PREDATORS:: Veteran defenseman Mark Borowiecki has decided to retire from hockey after playing more than 450 games over parts of 12 NHL seasons.
Borowiecki, 33, announced his decision in an Instagram post more than six months since his last professional game when he was stretchered off the ice after an awkward hit into the boards during a game against Philadelphia on Oct. 22. He was hospitalized, went on injured reserve and did not play again.
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