In Newark, the New Jersey Devils’ Jack Hughes (power-play) and Pavel Zacha scored in the third period to seal a 7-4 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. 
New Jersey trailed -02 early in the contest and 2-3 in the middle frame, but outplayed the Canes for the win.
“We were fortunate to be up two,” Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We got a lucky bounce and we just weren’t sharp. We had a couple guys that were good, but when you’re off a little bit, that’s what it looks like.”
Jon Gillies made 28 saves in the win.
“Our team never quits,” New Jersey head coach Lindy Ruff said. “If we get down, we’ve always found ways to get back in again. I thought after the game was 2-0, we were the better team.”
New Jersey improved to 15-19-5.
Nathan Bastian hit for a pair of goals for New Jersey, and Andreas Johnsson added a single marker.
“We’re a confident group playing in front of him, and we trust him when he’s in the net,” Bastian said. “It was nice to see him get his first one tonight, on his birthday. That’s pretty exciting.”
Andrei Svechnikov and Ian Cole scored in the first period to stake the Canes to the 2-0 lead.
“I’ve talked about the way my game needed to evolve to be effective in this league,” Bastian said. “One of the things is [the] net front; I feel like I’ve gotten so much better over time. It’s getting sticks on pucks in front, finding a way to just bang pucks in. I’m pretty confident in front of the net right now.”
Josh Leivo and Brady Skjei added goals for the Hurricanes.
Carolina dropped to 27-9-2.
“We know they’re good in almost every area of the ice,” Ruff said of the Hurricanes. “They skate well, their defense is the most active defense we will play this year. It’s part of their DNA, so you can’t stand there and watch. We got caught right off the bat, but thought we did a real good job against them the rest of the game.”
Michael McLeod and Jesper Bratt also scored for New Jersey.
“We showed character after they got the two goals early and we found a way,” New Jersey’s Nico Hischier said. “We’ve got to understand that if we play that way, we can win a lot more games.”
Jack LaFontaine made 31 saves in the loss, his first NHL start.
“The group in front of him wasn’t good enough,” Brind’Amour said.
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