Devils defeat Hurricanes, gain in Metropolitan

NEWARK, N.J. -- Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists, and Stefan Noesen scored twice to help the New Jersey Devils to a 5-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Prudential Center on Thursday.

Damon Severson and Kyle Palmieri scored, and Keith Kinkaid made 27 saves for the Devils (29-20-8), including saves on all 12 shots he faced in the third period.
WATCH: [All Hurricanes vs. Devils highlights]
New Jersey won its second straight game and moved into a tie with the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
"[Hischier's] a gamer and that's what separates some players," Devils coach John Hynes said of the rookie forward. "There's a lot of talented players in the League, but there's other guys that when the pressure gets turned up, the game becomes more intense or you need guys to step up and make plays, they can do it. Nico has done that for us."

Hischier scored off a 2-on-1 with Palmieri at 8:06 of the third period to make it 4-2, and Noesen scored his second of the game 32 seconds later to give the Devils a 5-2 lead at 8:38.
"I was first thinking pass, but saw that I had a shooting lane and took it and [was] lucky it went in," said Hischier, who intercepted a pass deep in the Devils zone, carried the puck up the ice and scored from the right face-off circle. "I would say it gives me confidence for sure. When you're shooting, it's never a wrong decision."
Jeff Skinner and Brett Pesce scored, and Scott Darling made 17 saves for the Hurricanes (27-22-9), who had their three-game winning streak end. Carolina leads the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders by one point for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"We didn't manage certain situations very well," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. "On the Hischier 2-on-1, we didn't have a forward covering there. There were some things we did to make the game harder than it needed to be and that's the stuff we've got to clean up."
Hischier assisted on Palmieri's goal that made it 3-2 with 2:32 remaining in the second period.
"I like to play in the big games," Hischier said. "I just like to play in those situations; that's when I'm having the most fun."
Noesen gave the Devils a 2-1 lead at 6:48 of the second when he scored off a rebound. Pesce scored 55 seconds later off a wrist shot from the right circle to tie it 2-2 at 7:43.

The Devils tied it 1-1 with 19 seconds remaining in the first period, five seconds after a delay of game penalty to Taylor Hall expired, when Severson scored off a snap shot from the right circle that beat Darling inside the left post.
Skinner gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead with 2:40 remaining in the first period. After a pass from Victor Rask deflected off his skate and off the right post, Skinner pushed the puck under Kinkaid's glove.
"We didn't generate enough offense from inside," Skinner said. "Those are tough things to do. Other teams are trying to limit those opportunities and your job is to find ways to make those opportunities. We had a few shifts and then sort of got away from it, and then we'd have a good shift. We didn't have enough good shifts back to back."

Goal of the game

Palmieri's goal at 17:28 of the second period.

Save of the game

Kinkaid's save on Derek Ryan at 3:04 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Hischier's goal at 8:06 of the third period.

They said it

"The Devils were quick. They were on top of us and I didn't think we executed coming out of our end. We didn't execute efficiently enough to give ourselves a chance to get through the neutral zone. The Devils got the puck into good spots to allow them to forecheck properly and on the flip side of that I thought we turned pucks over trying to come out and then they wore us out a little bit." -- Hurricanes coach Bill Peters
"After the game the coaches were saying, finally [Hischier] shot the puck and scored. It was good. But that's him; he's a young guy and he's learning. He understands he was overpassing a little bit but some of that comes from him having confidence. Sometimes it's OK to be a little bit selfish and shoot the puck as opposed to trying to make the play, so nice shot by him and obviously a big goal for us." -- Devils coach John Hynes

Need to know

Forward Jordan Staal led the Hurricanes with five hits and went 13 for 17 (76 percent) on face-offs. ... New Jersey is 21-0-2 when leading after two periods. ... Hischier has eight multipoint games. ... Hall had an assist, giving him at least one point in 16 consecutive games (24 points; 11 goals, 13 assists), the longest streak in Devils history. ... Defenseman Andy Greene had five of New Jersey's 17 blocked shots.

What's next

Hurricanes: Host the New York Islanders on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-CR, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Devils: At the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, SUN, NHL.TV)