"Found a way to win," said Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe. "I don't think it was our best game by any means, but anytime you can get two points, score four at even strength against a team like that and win on home ice, you're certainly going to take it."
The bench boss noted it was a tough matchup for the first game after the three-day holiday break.
"Playing against a team that's willing to shoot the puck, tough for everybody -- goalies included -- coming off a break. Got better as the game went on and some huge saves to keep us in it."
Brent Burns took a shot from the point that was tipped on its way in by Jackson Blake. Jacob Markstrom got a piece of it, but the puck trickled through him and sat in the crease. From there, Eric Robinson pounced on it and pushed it across the line to get the Hurricanes on the board first.
With 3:48 to go in the first, Markstrom made a nice play to advance the puck up to Jack Hughes. Hughes moved it Jonas Siegenthaler who dished it to Jonathan Kovacevic. Kovacevic wristed it on goal from the point where Ondrej Palat got a piece of it to tie the game at 1-1.
Forty-two seconds later, the Devils took the lead. Stefan Noesen skated in on a two-on-one with Nico Hischier. He dished the puck over to the captain and Hischier made no mistake, with a high blocker shot. On that play, Luke Hughes made a beautiful stretch pass over to Noesen to spring him on the rush.
"Starts with a great pass by Luke," Hischier exclaimed. "Noes gave me a great pass as well and I found the corner."
Keefe added that goal was a textbook play.
"Nico's goal, find a way to break through pressure. When you break through pressure you end up with a look like that. Doesn't happen very often but it all came together there."
The first penalty of the game went to Dougie Hamilton for interference, giving Carolina the man advantage with 1:45 to go in the first.
Devils were able to kill that off without allowing a shot but only 22 seconds into the middle frame, Carolina tied the game up. Brent Burns took the puck between the hashmarks and fired a wrist shot past Markstrom to make it 2-2.
New Jersey moved back in front less than four minutes later. Luke Hughes took a quick shot from the bottom of the left circle, beating Kochetkov.
"I saw my guy out of position and saw Pesce had a clean look at it," noted Hughes. "I knew he was going to shoot it and I got a nice rebound and put it in there."
"You talk often about depth scoring, the defense are part of that. You need them involved. If you're going to generate consistent offense in today's NHL five-on-five, your defense have to be engaged and have to be part of it. We've had great contributions," stated Keefe.
That 3-2 lead turned into a 4-2 lead before the game hit the midway point. Dawson Mercer was perched in front of the net and showed some patience before backhanding it past Kochetkov to double the home team's edge.
With six minutes to go in the second, there was a scramble in front of the Hurricanes net. After Hischier brought the puck out front, Noesen jammed it in but after a lengthy video review, it was ruled no goal.
"He said the whistle was blown before but I don't know, I'd have to go look at it," said Hischer. Keefe added that because the ruling was tied to the whistle, there was nothing he could have done, either.
"They told me that they had deemed it to be a dead puck so it's not even one that we can challenge."
The final 8:11 of the game went without a whistle as the Devils kept the Hurricanes at bay. Final shot count in the game was 31-23 for Carolina.
