Fast rewarded with OT goal for Hurricanes in Game 5 of East 2nd Round

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Jesper Fast still wasn't sure what happened on his winning goal about 45 minutes after the Carolina Hurricanes' 3-2 overtime victory against the New Jersey Devils in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at PNC Arena on Thursday.

Fast jumped into the glass in the right corner and was mobbed there by his teammates after he tipped Jesperi Kotkaniemi's shot from the top of the right circle past goalie Akira Schmid 7:09 into overtime to put Carolina in the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2019. He could feel the thrill of the sudden-death victory mixed with the odd pain of being pummeled by his teammates.

"My visor was down," Fast said. "I couldn't see anything. I was trying to take it all in. There was some hard punches on me … I think I just blacked out a little bit and I don't know what I did."

Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns acknowledged, "We were trying to give it to him," during the scrum, but Fast didn't mind. He'd been shaking his head after shooting the puck over an empty net at 11:29 of the first period and then again when he shot wide at 13:19 of the third period after Kotkaniemi stole the puck from Schmid behind the net.

"I had a weird feeling going into overtime," Fast said. "I missed two kind of good opportunities. I feel like the next one will go in. So, yeah, definitely got a little touch on that one."

RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs. Devils series coverage]

Fast is another depth forward who has emerged to play an important role for Carolina during these Stanley Cup Playoffs with key forwards Andrei Svechnikov (torn ACL), Max Pacioretty (torn Achilles tendon) and Teuvo Teravainen (broken hand) sidelined with injuries. Fast is tied with Sebastian Aho for the Hurricanes lead with five goals in the playoffs, including two overtime winners.

He also scored one in Carolina's 4-3 victory in Game 2 of the first round against the New York Islanders on April 19. Fast is tied for third on Carolina with eight points this postseason, behind Aho and linemate Jordan Martinook, who each have 10. All of Martinook's points (three goals, seven assists) came against the Devils.

Fast had six points (three goals, three assists) in the series.

"He's not as vocal or that kind of a player, but his play on the ice, you see that effort every night," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "That never deviates. Then, you just love when those guys get rewarded like this and kind of get their due."

After the first four games of the series each were decided by at least four goals, Game 5 was a seesaw battle in which New Jersey took leads of 1-0 and 2-1 and Carolina answered each time to tie it. After Burns' goal with 38 seconds remaining in the second tied the score at 2-2, the teams battled through a scoreless third period.

The Hurricanes got their second power play of the game when Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler accidentally cleared the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty at 5:36 of overtime. Fast hasn't played much on the power play this season. In fact, he's scored two power-play goals in 630 regular-season NHL games and none this season.

But Brind'Amour decided to put him on the second unit in Game 4 against New Jersey.

"It was just we needed a righty at the goal line, and he was the next one up," Brind'Amour said.

Then Brind'Amour went with his gut to switch to the second unit about midway through the power play in overtime. Paul Stastny won the left circle face-off and the Hurricanes worked the puck around to Kotkaniemi for the shot with Fast stationed in front. Fast didn't know if the puck deflected off his stick or his body somewhere.

"I know it hit me," Fast said. "I actually haven't seen it yet where. I felt it and I looked back, and it was in the net. Just a lot of happy emotions."

The emotions in the Hurricanes' celebration were understandable after they were unable to advance past the second round in the playoffs in each of the previous three seasons. They'll face the winner of the other second-round series between the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs, which Florida leads 3-1 heading into Game 5 at Toronto on Friday (7 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS).

"I think sometimes, I hate to say it, you have to learn to lose before you can learn to win," Brind'Amour said. "But there's part of what it takes. There's a little bit of that, for sure. Our guys are growing up."

It's possible Teravainen, who has resumed skating, will be able to return during the conference final, but the Hurricanes will need more contributions from players throughout their lineup if they are going to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since they won the Cup in 2006.

"We've seen it all year. Next man up," Burns said. "You always say the same thing. It's been pretty special to see different guys come in at different times and just compete, fit in great. Good things happen, keep going and it's just been that so far and it's going to have to continue."