Stankoven, Hurricanes top Devils in Game 1 of Eastern 1st Round

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Logan Stankoven scored twice in the second period for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-1 win against the New Jersey Devils in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Lenovo Center on Sunday.

Jalen Chatfield and Andrei Svechnikov also scored, and Frederik Andersen made 23 saves for the Hurricanes, who are the No. 2 seed from the Metropolitan Division. Taylor Hall had two assists.

“For us to win, we’re going to need 20 guys chipping in. I think that’s what we got tonight,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We were ready to go. That first goal, I think, is huge just to really settle everything. It allows you to keep staying the course.”

Nico Hischier scored for the Devils, who are the No. 3 seed from the Metropolitan. Jacob Markstrom made 41 saves.

“Five-on-5, I really didn't have a lot of issues with our game other than what we expected with the energy and pace,” New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I thought in the second period we were just overwhelmed and that was not good enough. Third period was good, but the damage is done by then.”

Game 2 will be in Raleigh on Tuesday (6 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, MSGSN, ESPN, TVAS2, SN360).

Chatfield gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 2:24 of the first period when he scored on a wrist shot through traffic from the right point.

“We called that play, we run it a lot,” Chatfield said. “(It’s) just getting pucks to the net. We did a good job getting to the front and causing chaos.”

Stankoven made it 2-0 at 6:37 of the second period. After Hischier broke up Jordan Martinook’s centering attempt, Martinook recovered the puck behind the net and sent a backhand feed to Stankoven for a snap shot from the left circle.

“It was just nice to get the first one out of the way and start off on the right foot,” Stankoven said. “When you come into a series, the first one is big, but there’s a lot of hockey left to play. It was a lot of fun playing out there.”

Stankoven’s second goal of the game extended it to 3-0 at 13:08. Hall made a cross-ice pass to Stankoven, who scored a power-play goal on a wrist shot off the left post.

“We have to work harder, create, create your own lanes to the net,” Devils forward Timo Meier said. “They're strong and they battle hard, they compete, all things we know. And like I said, we have a game plan. We got to execute it better.”

Hischier made it 3-1 with 1:09 remaining in the second period when he skated the puck over the blue line and scored off the right post from the left circle.

The Hurricanes outshot the Devils 38-13 through two periods, but New Jersey tested Andersen in the third. Just past the midway point of the period, the Carolina goalie stopped Brian Dumoulin in close before stretching to make a right-pad save on Meier.

“You never know what a game is going to bring,” Andersen said. “You’ve got to stay ready for the next shot. You’ve got to stay in the moment, stay in the present, not think about what the score is. Just try to react to what’s in front of you and focus on that next shot.”

Svechnikov scored an empty-net goal at 17:32 of the third period for the 4-1 final.

“We're not going to get a lot,” Keefe said. “It's just, that's just the reality of it when you come in and play a team like Carolina. They're going to make it real hard on you, but that said, you had more than enough to score more than we did. There's some opportunities there.”

NOTES: Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon left at 8:25 of the second period after a collision with Carolina forward William Carrier, and forward Cody Glass left at 8:36 of the third period. Neither player returned and there was no update postgame. … The Devils, who allowed 45 shots, gave up more shots only once during the regular season (46 in a 2-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 17). … Stankoven is the fifth Carolina rookie to score two goals in a playoff game, joining Seth Jarvis (2022), Warren Foegele (2019), Svechnikov (2019) and Erik Cole (2002).