Teuvo Teravainen had a goal and assist as the Carolina Hurricanes used early momentum to earn a 3-2 victory against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night in Raleigh, N.C.
Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal also scored for the Hurricanes, who were boosted by a power-play goal on their first man advantage. Antti Raanta made 23 saves for the win.
The Hurricanes, who have won three of their past four games, led 3-0 before a shaky third-period stretch. They swept games on back-to-back nights for the third time this season.
Justin Dowling scored early in the third period in his Devils debut. New Jersey didn’t convert again until 2.3 seconds remained, when Jester Bratt scored as the team skated with an extra attacker.
Devils goalie Nico Daws stopped nine of 12 shots before he was replaced after Carolina’s third goal early in the second period. Vitek Vanecek entered and stopped all 11 shots he faced.
The Devils finished the game without coach Lindy Ruff behind the bench. Ruff was hit in the face by a puck in the second period and was tended to but initially remained on the bench. He wasn’t out there for the third period, with associate coach Travis Green taking charge.
Aho scored 90 seconds into the game on a breakaway from the blue line, his team-leading 17th goal.
Teravainen, who passed up what looked like a good scoring chance in the final minute of the first period, fired a shot off the draw to begin Carolina’s first power play early in the second frame. The result was Teravainen’s 15th goal of the season, coming at 2:54.
Before the celebration died down from the 2-0 lead, the Hurricanes padded the lead on Staal’s goal at 3:19. That ended Staal’s 14-game stretch without a goal, giving him six for the season.
There were offensive droughts for both teams. The Devils needed almost 12 minutes before registering a second-period shot. The Hurricanes didn’t generate much in the third period, when they were outshot 10-4.
The Devils were facing Carolina for the first time since the Hurricanes prevailed in five games in last spring’s second-round playoff series.
–Field Level Media
