Wild, Fun, Crazy Game Ends in Devils Win | GAME STORY

Who doesn't love goals?
An offensive explosion and a wildly entertaining hockey game ended in a 7-4 victory for the Devils over the previously red-hot Carolina Hurricanes.
The game could have gotten away from New Jersey early on, but two huge goals from Nate Bastian tied the game at the end of the first period after the Hurricanes had stormed out to an early lead.
"It feels awesome," said Bastian. "Especially coming back from two goals, I think maybe we've seen in the past we get down and we're pretty hard on ourselves as a group. And it's tough to battle back and to come out of the first period even and then kind of put away the game the rest of the night was really good to see."
The two teams then traded blows back and forth for much of the game, including five combined goals scored in a chaotic second frame. The Devils finished stronger, however on route to victory.
"Feels great," said Devils captain Nico Hischier. "I feel it was an all-around great team effort and good game. I mean, we showed some character. After we got those two goals early and fell behind. I think we were a little pissed off at the beginning. But we found a way to bounce back. And we've got to understand if you play that way that we can win a lot more games."

ALL YOUR POST-GAME INFO
WATCH OUR LIVE POST-GAME SHOW
Chris Wescott and Matt Loughlin have interviews, highlights, analysis and more
GAME DAY
Box Score
Advanced Stats
In-Game Highlights
Photo Gallery
POST-GAME VIDEO
Full Highlights
WATCH: Rising to the Challenge | Post-Game Report
WATCH INTERVIEWS:
Bastian
|
Hischier
|
Johnsson
WATCH:
Head Coach Lindy Ruff
WHAT'S NEXT
The Devils close out this home back-to-back by hosting the LA Kings on Sunday night at 7 pm ET. The game can be seen on MSG+ and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 7:08 p.m. ET.
Tickets are still available. Click here to purchase.
Here are some observations, notes, and quotes from the game...
- The Hurricanes rifled in two goals on their first four shots on goal in the opening six minutes of the game. - Nate Bastian's goal in the first was his seventh of the season, extending his already career-high. He followed it up with his eighth of the season less than a minute before the end of the frame. His tallies were his sixth and seventh goals in 20 games with New Jersey (his other goal came while he was a member of the Kraken. With the Devils, Bastian has scored at a 28.7 goal-pace if multiplied for 82 games. An unlikely pace but a great run for one of the hardest workers on the team. - "It means everything," said Bastian."I never wanted to leave. So to be back and to be contributing. It's awesome." - Bastian's rally was just the start of the Devils depth scoring. Michael McLeod scored his third of the season at 8:47 of the second period to tie the game again after Carolina had pulled ahead. - Andreas Johnsson snapped a 17-game goal drought when he sniped one at 11:16 of the second. - Jesper Bratt gave the Devils a 5-4 lead at 18:19 of the second period, capping off the wild flurry of offense from both teams in that frame. - Jon Gillies picked up his first victory as a member of the Devils organization between the pipes. - Jack Hughes scored his 10th of the season to provide a little breathing room for the Devils at 12:51 of the third. - Pavel Zacha got his first goal since Dec. 10 when he made the extra point, putting the Devils up 7-4. - Six players recorded multi-point nights for New Jersey and 13 had at least a point.