For the first time in 10 years, the Carolina Hurricanes are going back to the playoffs.
It doesn’t hurt when you have an easy mark on the schedule; they defeated the New Jersey Devils, 3-1, to nail down a wild card spot.
Petr Mrazek got the win for Carolina – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“When you go nine years, nobody wants to watch that, I get it,” said first-year Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour, who was captain of their 2006 Stanley Cup championship team. “Now all the changes we’ve made have been positive, and it’s electric around here. The town, they deserve to have a team like this they can be proud of.”
Petr Mrazek made 35 saves got the win and the Canes are now three points clear of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Montreal Canadiens.
“That (playoff) feeling is amazing, the best part of hockey,” Mrazek said. “It’s been a great journey, from Day One when I came here (as a free agent July 1, 2018). I hope we’re not done.”
Andy Greene scored the Devils’ only goal.
“For the majority of the game, we were the better team,” New Jersey coach John Hynes said. “This game was a little indicative of our team. I thought we competed very well, but we didn’t use (our chances) to score enough.”
Nino Niederreiter, perhaps the best trade deadline pick up this season, Warren Foegele and Justin Faulk scored for the Canes.
“There’s a pretty good vibe going on, it’s great,” Faulk said. “We’re excited, but we’re not done. It’s not enough to get into playoffs. It’s not enough to get in and call it good.”
[WATCH: All Devils vs. Hurricanes highlights]
Cory Schneider made 23 saves in the loss.
“You look at the two 5-on-5 goals, and they were just mental mistakes. We’ve made those all year long. It’s decisions at the right time, and that ultimately cost us the game,” Hynes said after the game.
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