3 Keys: Devils at Hurricanes, Game 5 of Eastern 2nd Round

(2M) Devils at (1M) Hurricanes

Eastern Conference Second Round, Game 5

Carolina leads best-of-7 series, 3-1

7 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS

RALEIGH, N.C. --The Carolina Hurricanes can advance to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2019 with a victory against the New Jersey Devils in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at PNC Arena on Thursday.

Carolina leads 3-1 in the best-of-7 series following a 6-1 win in Game 4 at New Jersey on Tuesday.

"This is a great opportunity to close the series and move on," Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho said. "But getting [to the conference final] is not our goal. It's to be the last team standing. That's been our long goal for a while now and we don't want to look too far ahead. It's all about tonight. It's the playoffs. Anything can happen. They're going to bring their best effort and we need to bring ours too and not think of anything else but trying to take care of business tonight."

The Hurricanes outscored the Devils 17-3 in their three victories, including 11-2 in the first two games of the series at PNC Arena. New Jersey won 8-4 in Game 3 at home on Sunday.

RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs. Devils series coverage]

"We had a really good Game 3 and the rest of the series we haven't really got to our edge," Devils forward Jesper Bratt said. "We have to find that game again and, as a whole, can all contribute just being a harder, tough team."

New Jersey needs a win to extend the series to a Game 6 at home Saturday.

"You have to play (with) everything on the line," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "Sometimes you might need another desperation that you might not see in a Game 1 or Game 2."

Teams that take a 3-1 lead in a best-of-7 series have a series record of 302-32 (.904), including 3-1 in 2023.

Here are 3 keys to Game 5:

1. Devils goalie decision

New Jersey did not hold a morning skate Thursday, so there were no clues about which goalie will start. Will it be rookie Akira Schmid or Vitek Vanecek, who each started two of the first four games? Or Mackenzie Blackwood, who has yet to dress in the playoffs?

"It's a discussion we'll have," Ruff said Wednesday. "We discuss this from game to game. We'll discuss what direction we want to go and that's where we'll be at."

Schmid stopped 11 of 12 shots in relief of Vanecek, who allowed five goals on 17 shots in Game 4. The 22-year-old is 4-3 with a 2.29 goals-against average, .921 save percentage and two shutouts in the playoffs, but was pulled after starting each of the first two games against Carolina and has a 5.40 GAA and .833 save percentage in the series.

Vanecek has not allowed fewer than four goals in any his four starts and is 1-3 with a 4.64 GAA and .825 save percentage this postseason. Blackwood was 10-6-2 with a 3.20 GAA and .893 save percentage during the regular season and hasn't played since being pulled after allowing four goals on 11 shots in a 5-4 overtime win at the Washington Capitals on April 13 in New Jersey's regular-season finale.

2. Withstand surges

The victorious team won by at least four goals in each of the four games, so not allowing one goal to lead to more will be essential.

The Devils scored three goals in 6:33 in the first period of Game 3 and the Hurricanes didn't respond until after their deficit was stretched to 4-0 at 53 seconds of the second period. New Jersey started strong again in Game 4, generating sustained pressure that led to a 1-0 lead on center Jack Hughes' goal 1:55 into the first period. But Carolina withstood the early push and tied the score on forward Martin Necas' goal with 2:20 left in the first.

The Hurricanes then broke the game open with four goals in a span of 5:20 during the second period when the Devils were unable to stem their momentum.

"It's supposed to kind of be a back-and-forth game," Carolina defenseman Jalen Chatfield said. "We know we're going to get hemmed in a little bit, but I think it's just finding a way to weather the storm a little bit out there."

3. Smart puck decisions

Limiting turnovers has been important throughout the series, but the difference between the two teams was most evident in Game 4, when the Devils had 26 giveaways and the Hurricanes had two.

New Jersey's repeated turnovers fed Carolina's transition game, particularly in the second period, when it had 10 giveaways and Carolina scored five goals.

Devils projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Nico Hischier -- Jesper Bratt

Timo Meier -- Jack Hughes -- Dawson Mercer

Tomas Tatar - Erik Haula -- Curtis Lazar

Miles Wood -- Michael McLeod -- Nathan Bastian

Jonas Siegenthaler -- Dougie Hamilton

Luke Hughes -- Damon Severson

Ryan Graves -- John Marino

Akira Schmid

Mackenzie Blackwood

Scratched: Yegor Sharangovich, Jesper Boqvist, Brendan Smith, Vitek Vanecek, Kevin Bahl

Injured: None

Hurricanes projected lineup

Stefan Noesen -- Sebastian Aho -- Seth Jarvis

Jordan Martinook -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Jesper Fast

Jack Drury -- Jordan Staal -- Martin Necas

Derek Stepan -- Paul Stastny -- Mackenzie MacEachern

Jaccob Slavin -- Brent Burns

Brady Skjei -- Brett Pesce

Shayne Gostisbehere -- Jalen Chatfield

Frederik Andersen

Antti Raanta

Scratched: Jesse Puljujarvi, Calvin de Haan, Dylan Coghlan, Pyotr Kochetkov, Ville Koivunen , Vasily Ponomarev, Jamieson Rees, Ryan Suzuki, Max Lajoie, Zach Sawchenko

Injured: Teuvo Teravainen (broken hand)

Status report

Raanta, who has not been available since Game 1 because of an illness, took part in the Hurricanes morning skate Thursday and is expected to dress. … Teravainen skated in a non-contact jersey but the forward will not be available for the rest of the series; he had surgery on his left hand April 22 after he was injured in a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round on April 19.

NHL.com independent correspondent Kurt Dusterberg contributed to this report