Canes Complete Regular Season Series Sweep of Devils

NEWARK, NJ. - The Carolina Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils for a third time in three months on Saturday, taking a 4-2 win at the Prudential Center.

Kuznetsov's Debut...

Just 25 hours after being acquired from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a 2025 third-round draft pick, forward Evgeny Kuznetsov jumped right into the lineup.

Playing his first game in 42 days, he looked impressive early, making his impact felt right away.

Playing alongside Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jesper Fast to start the afternoon, the trio played an integral role in drawing a penalty that sent Carolina to their first power play of the afternoon midway through the first frame. And on that change, the group claimed an early lead.

On Hockey Day in his home country of Czechia, Martin Necas unleashed a heavy drive from the point that got through Nico Daws, allowing the Canes to play from in front.

Does Anyone Know What Goaltender Interference Is?

Taking their 1-0 lead to the middle frame, the Canes nearly extended their lead in the second with another power play goal.

Brady Skjei beat Daws to the glove side, but it was immediately ruled no goal on the ice due to incidental contact outside the crease with the goaltender. Stefan Noesen's skate did touch the right foot of New Jersey's netminder, and although Daws' vision to see the shot was not impacted and it beat him to the opposite side, the NHL's situation room in Toronto ruled that the interaction was "enough to prevent the goaltender from playing his position."

The failed challenge led to one of what went on to be four penalties during the frame for Carolina, playing a large role in preventing them from having the same jump on offense as they did in the first.

And instead of having a 2-0 score, the ruling completely altered the course of the second period, as New Jersey took over from there.

The home team used the break to their advantage, evening the score just moments later.

Found A Way To Win...

A 1-1 contest going to the final 20 minutes, Carolina had to find a way to cut all the momentum that the Devils had generated over the final 10 minutes of the middle stanza.

Thanks to Kotkaniemi, they did just that 2:50 into the final period of regulation.

A sharp-angle shot caught Daws off guard and it snuck behind him, serving as the go-ahead goal.

Shifting the confidence in favor of the Canes, they held the lead for the rest of the contest. New Jersey went to the extra attacker during the late stages of the game and although they would add a garbage time six-on-five goal, it was sandwiched between empty net tallies for Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen.

With three points in the contest, Teravainen extended his season-long point streak to six games today.

When the final horn sounded, Pyotr Kochetkov had stopped 24 out of 26 shots faced and the Canes skated away with a 4-2 victory.

They Said It

Rod Brind'Amour giving his analysis of the win...

"We played a pretty good first half of the game. Then we kind of went out the window after that whole goalie challenge thing. We had a miscommunication with the officials. It was just a bunch of stuff that went wrong there and then I thought we got off of our game a little. Not a whole bunch, nothing that cost us the game, but we definitely were just kind of hanging on there for a bit."

Jesperi Kotkaniemi sharing how important the team's defensive game is in a performance like today..

"That's what we try and lean on every night. We try and get a couple of goals on the power play and if we get the chance, we take it. But defense is our thing. We try to be tight in our own end and that's been key for our wins lately."

Evgeny Kuznetsov on what he learned about his new team thus far...

"A lot of young guys, which is exciting. They all compete hard. They have skill. They combine it. My job is just to fill in and do whatever is best for the team. In that situation, I don't want to f*ck anything up."

What's Next?

The Canes will fly back to Raleigh immediately post-game. They'll return to game action on Sunday when they face the Calgary Flames at 5 p.m.

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