In Raleigh, the Hurricanes made quick of Game 1 on their second round series with the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night.
“That was obviously the way you want to do it,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said after his team’s first game in five days. “I was a little bit concerned that maybe [after] the layoff, I didn’t know how we were going to respond. But you could see we had a little bit more legs. Credit to the guys, we came ready to go.”
The Hurricanes took control of the offensive and defensive zones early in a 5-1 rout of New Jersey.
Brett Pesce and Seth Jarvis scored in the first period to stake the Canes to a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
“I saw a lane, just tried to get it through,” Pesce said. “Our start was just how we wanted it. [We] played fast, physical and got some pucks to the net.”
Game 2 is set for Friday in Raleigh.
“I was like, ‘I’ve got to get going. I’ve got to move, I’ve got to move,'” Jarvis said. “But finally I kind of was able to cut in and knew [Schmid] was going to probably play the pass, so shot was my only option.”
Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored 1:55 into the middle fame to push the advantage to 3-0.
That forced a change in New Jersey goaltenders.
“In my eyes, coming off a huge emotional win, quick turnaround, you look at the energy [Carolina] came out with,” New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. “They backed us into a corner right away. We didn’t execute. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit.
“I can only imagine the emotion and the amount of people telling you what an unbelievable game the previous one was. We all felt the same way. You start thinking this is pretty good, and then you get an eye-opener tonight. You’re right back in the playoffs again.”
Carolina’s Frederik Andersen stopped 18 of 19 shots he faced for the win.
“Every game there’s different ebbs and flows in who kind of has control of it,” Andersen said. “They’ll put some pressure on. There’s a lot of good skilled players on that team. I’m glad we were able to regroup for the third (period).”
Carolina was scoreless in three power play chances, New Jersey went empty in two opportunities.
Nathan Bastian scored for New Jersey at 5:02 of the second to trim the deficit to 3-1.
“They created a lot of pressure,” Ruff said. “Their [defensemen] were heavily involved in their forecheck, and we just didn’t win enough of those 50-50 battles in the first period.”
The game stayed that way into the third period when Brady Skjei scored midway through the third for a 4-1 lead.
“We’re a confident group, and the first period was not good enough,” Bastian said. “To come back and maybe start feeling our game a little bit in the second, obviously it’s positive. We have no doubt in this group that we’ll come out better next time.”
Jesper Fast hit an empty net with less than two minutes left on the regulatri0on clock for the 5-1 final.
Akira Schmid got the start for New Jersey and was given the hook after the Kotkaniemi in the second period. He made eight saves on 11 shots.
Vitek Vanecek made 10 saves on 11 shots in a mop up role.
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