2023 Postseason: Round 2, Game 4- Hurricanes at New Jersey Devils (CAR leads 2-1)

Game 4 is going to be a turning point in this series. Either the Canes will return home with a 3-1 lead in the series or the Devils will sweep the two games in New Jersey to even the series with all of the momentum on their side. The Devils seemed to turn the tides in Game 3 by experiencing an offensive explosion of their own. Timo Meier, Jack Hughes, and Michael McLeod each scored in the first period and an early second-period goal from Nico Hischier would chase Frederik Andersen from the game as New Jersey controlled the game. Sebastian Aho continued his point streak by getting the Canes on the board shortly after the goalie change but Damon Severson took it right back to make it 5-1. Jordan Martinook was thwarted on a short-handed breakaway attempt, resulting in a penalty shot. He finished a beautiful goal against Vitek Vanecek to bring it back to a three-goal game by the end of the period. Miles Wood scored for the second straight game and Hughes scored his second of the afternoon to make it 7-2. Jordan Staal and Seth Jarvis each added short-handed goals during the same kill to make it a somewhat respectable score. Ondrej Palat scored on the power play to make it 8-4 and it would stay right there as the Devils secured their first win of the series. The stars of New Jersey came alive for the first time in the series to get them started and the onslaught never ended. Tonight, we'll see if that same New Jersey team shows up or if the Canes can slow them down to send the series back to Raleigh with the Devils on the verge of elimination. 

Canes Lineup

Stefan Noesen-Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis

Jordan Martinook-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Jesper Fast

Jack Drury-Jordan Staal-Martin Necas

Paul Stastny-Derek Stepan-Mackenzie MacEachern

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Shayne Gostisbehere-Jalen Chatfield

Injuries/Scratches/Extras- Teuvo Teravainen (broken hand), Antti Raanta (illness), Jesse Puljujarvi (healthy), Calvin de Haan (healthy), Dylan Coghlan (healthy), Pyotr Kochetkov (healthy)

IR- Andrei Svechnikov (Torn ACL), Max Pacioretty (Achilles), Ondrej Kase (concussion)

The only notable change will be Mackenzie MacEachern jumping back into the lineup for the first time in the series after making his debut late in the first round. He'll be taking Jesse Puljujarvi's spot. Antti Raanta won't be available again tonight due to an illness, so Pyotr Kochetkov will remain the backup. 

Starting Goalies

NJ- Vitek Vanecek (1-2, 26 saves on 30 shots in Game 3)

The decision to start Vanecek in Game 3 worked for the Devils, though he probably wasn't the only reason the Devils won the game. He picked up the win despite allowing three short-handed goals in the game. The win was his first of the postseason after losing his first two starts in the first round. 

CAR- Frederik Andersen (3-0, 4 GA on 12 shots before being pulled in Game 3)

While he didn't take the loss in Game 3, this was a far cry from what we'd seen from him in his previous three starts. Andersen allowed four goals in 20:53 of the game before getting pulled for Kochetkov. The Canes will turn back to Andersen tonight in the hopes that the guy that started the series will come back. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

(NJ) 1:55- Jack Hughes (6) (assisted Timo Meier (1))

(CAR) 17:40- Martin Necas (3) (assisted by Jordan Martinook (5) & Jaccob Slavin (4))

2nd Period

(CAR) 7:26- Martin Necas (4) (assisted by Brett Pesce (4) & Jordan Staal (5))

(CAR) 9:51- Brett Pesce (2) (assisted by Jack Drury (3) & Jordan Staal (6))

(CAR) 11:07- Jesper Fast (4) (assisted by Jalen Chatfield (2)) 

(CAR) 12:46- Brent Burns (1) (assisted by Jesperi Kotkaniemi (2) & Jordan Martinook (6))

(CAR) 19:36- Jordan Martinook (3) (assisted by Brent Burns (6))

3rd Period

None

Let's Talk About the Game

When the Devils scored to start the game, I could feel the collective fanbase get buckled in for another game just like the one we saw on Sunday afternoon. Then, the strangest thing happened. The Devils didn't score for the rest of the game. Even better, the Canes scored a lot more. The early goal originally looked like it was a soft goal that Frederik Andersen allowed to Timo Meier. Upon further review, the puck was deflected by Jack Hughes, making it a little bit more understandable how the puck got through Andersen. Regardless, the play doesn't happen if Brett Pesce doesn't make a terrible pass trying to clear the zone that goes right into the center of the zone for Meier to pick up. The Canes got their chances on the other end of the ice but Vitek Vanecek was stopping everything. He made two big saves on Jordan Staal right after the goal that stood out. On the other end, Andersen looked like he had put the early goal behind him. The Canes looked poised to end the period down a goal before the most amazing thing happened. Jaccob Slavin made a great play in the neutral zone to take the puck away from Michael McLeod. He passed it to Jordan Martinook as he entered the zone on a 2-on-1. Maritnook tried to feed a pass through to Martin Necas but the puck hit Damon Severson's stick. That didn't bother Necas as he lifted the bouncing puck into the net to tie the game late in the period. The Canes would earn a later power play that would carry into the second period as they managed to salvage a rough start by sending it to intermission tied at one. 

The Canes' power play wouldn't capitalize on the fresh ice as the Devils killed the Erik Haula penalty and would do the same thing a few minutes later when Timo Meier had to sit for two minutes. It was clear at this point that the Canes had found their game. They just weren't finding any bounces to get the puck into the net. Little did we know that we were about to see an explosion of offense. It all started with Necas scoring a nearly identical goal to his first one. This time it was Pesce's pass that would get knocked down as Necas elevated one for his second of the night. 2:25 later, Pesce would atone for his bad turnover by snapping a shot off of the right post and into the net as Vanecek was sliding the other way. Just over a minute later, Jesper Fast would put a rebound into the back of the net after Jalen Chatfield's shot hit a mass of humanity in front of Vanecek. The icing on the cake was a one-timer that Brent Burns blasted through the five-hole of Vanecek after a pass from below the goal line by Jesperi Kotkaniemi. The four goals came in 5:20, making them the fastest four goals in the franchise's postseason history. It also sucked the life out of the fans as the Canes' lead had expanded to 5-1. the fifth goal would chase Vanecek from the game, marking the fourth straight game that a starting goalie has been pulled. 

The penalty kill would come out and kill another power play for New Jersey, keeping their near-perfect series rolling. Martinook would add an exclamation point to the period by snapping a shot off of the crossbar and in over the shoulder of Akira Schmid to cap a five-goal second period for the Canes. Five goals tied a franchise record for most goals in a period, joining the 1988 Whalers and the 2002 Hurricanes, who each victimized Montreal. As the period ended, the fans in New Jersey let their team know how they felt about their team's effort, showering them with boos. The third period was largely uneventful. The Canes had to kill a penalty and they did so once Haula took his second penalty of the night. Neither team would score in the period as they each felt content to move the puck up and down the ice without any sustained pressure. The final horn sounded as the Canes won their third game in the series, meaning they'll be coming home for Game 5 on Thursday night with a chance to close the series at PNC Arena. 

While the final score was lopsided for the fourth time in the series, this was different than the other games we've seen so far. For Games 1, 2, and 3, it was very clear who the dominant team was going to be with the drop of the puck. Tonight, New Jersey was the stronger team for about ten minutes before the Canes unloaded an offensive barrage that we've grown to expect in this series. They've scored four or more goals in all four games, including Game 3's loss. The center of it all is Martinook. He's gone from zero points in the first round to the center of the offense. Of the 21 goals the Canes have scored in the series, Martinook has contributed to just about half of them. This felt more like a typical game from the Canes with the offense getting into the action much more tonight, scoring twice and putting up six points, led by Burns and Pesce recording two each. They also did it without Sebastian Aho recording a point, snapping his point streak. The top line didn't have to carry the offense, though they did play a physical game. All of the goals overshadow another strong performance from Andersen in the net. He only faced 22 shots and after allowing a goal on New Jersey's third shot, he was perfect the rest of the way. Andersen has allowed just one goal in four of his five starts this postseason and has largely looked like the goalie the Canes were hoping he would be when they signed him. The job isn't done yet. Just like I said in the first round, the fourth win is always the toughest. It took the Canes two tries to get it done in the first round and they now have three chances to close out New Jersey. Another performance like this on Thursday night will make that job a little easier. 

Canes' Three Stars of the Game

Third Star- Brent Burns (Goal, Assist)

On the scoresheet, Burns had largely been a non-factor through three games. After five assists in the first round, he was scoreless to this point. Tonight, he was found the scoresheet twice, including his first goal in the postseason as a Hurricane. The goal capped the four-goal stretch in the second period and his assist really took the life out of the arena as Martinook scored at the end of the period. 

Second Star- Martin Necas (2 Goals)

Another player that hadn't really been lighting it up lately, Necas' two goals were huge. His first goal to tie the first period is arguably the most important goal of the night. Without Necas tying it before the intermission, we likely don't get the second-period onslaught that we got. He played a part in that history-making stretch, starting it with his second goal of the game. 

First Star- Jordan Martinook (Goal, 2 Assists)

I don't mean this as a slight toward Martinook at all but this four-game stretch has seemingly come out of nowhere. Before they took away a potential fourth point, I was prepared to talk about how historic these four games have been. Still, with three points tonight, he became the first player in franchise history with a four-game multi-point streak in the postseason. He helped start the scoring for the Canes and finished it with a beautiful goal. 

Around the League

Toronto/Florida (FLA 3-0)- The other series in the East is another one-sided affair as Florida brought their series lead back home and won Game 3 in overtime. They'll have a chance to close the series on Wednesday night with Joseph Woll having to start for Toronto with Ilya Samsonov hurt. 

Dallas/Seattle (SEA 2-1)- For as bad as the Canes' game on Sunday was, Dallas certainly made Carolina look good by allowing five goals in the second period to Seattle en route to a 7-2 victory for the Kraken. Tonight, a goal from Jamie Benn has Dallas up 1-0 after the first period as they look to even the series again. 

Vegas/Edmonton (VGK 2-1)- It's hard to play as perfect a game as the Golden Knights did in Game 3 as they scored five unanswered goals after Edmonton scored 2:45 into the game. They held both Draisaitl and McDavid scoreless behind Adin Hill's 24 saves in relief of Laurent Brossoit after he left the game with an injury in the first period.