NHL Recap: New Jersey Devils take down Carolina Hurricanes, 4-1
Dainius Zubrus lit the lamp twice to lead New Jersey Devils to a 4-1 victory against Carolina Hurricanes, at RBC Centre on Saturday night.
Henrik Tallinder and Brian Rolston both also found the net for New Jersey, who have won their previous seven contests and is 15-1-2 since losing four consecutive in early January.
Patrik Elias collected three assists while Johan Hedberg knotted a career-high with his sixth consecutive win, making 24 saves for Devils, who beat Hurricanes for a third time since February 8.
"We believe in our group right now, we have a lot of confidence in what we do," Hedberg said. "When you get the result, you have to believe what you do is right. You can't go away from that."
Patrick Dwyer provided the lone offense and Cam Ward turned aside 21 shots for Hurricanes, who dropped for the fifth time in their previous seven play-offs.
"We got beat by the better team tonight," said Hurricanes head coach Paul Maurice. "We did not help ourselves with all the penalties tonight. We had a hard time moving the puck tonight.
New Jersey used a three-goal burst in the first period to take command of the play.
“We took control early, for a change, because here this team is known for great starts,” New Jersey Coach Jacques Lemaire said. “Every time they step on the ice they really skate and get on top of the other team. We were pretty lucky to get that
first goal.”
The first goal came in just a little over one minute when Mark Fayne ripped a low shot from the right point and Zubrus redirected it into the net for his 12th goal of the year.
About 10 minutes later, Devils doubled their advantage, 2-0, when Ilya Kovalchuk carried the disc in a circle in the Hurricanes end and from down low he slipped it back to the left point for Tallinder, who fired a one-timer home.
Just five minutes later, Devils enhanced their lead to 3-0 when Anton Volchenkov banged a shot from the right point. Rolston deflected it to the net but it was saved. He then grabbed the rebound and slammed it home for his 10th goal of the season.
Hedberg made eight saves in each of the first two sessions to keep Hurricanes off the board.
However, Hurricanes got their scoring started to make it 3-1 game nearly seven minutes into the final frame, as Jamie McBain chipped a wrist shot on net from the right point that caromed off of Dwyer, who tipped it in.
Zubrus, though, restored three-goal cushion, 4-1, five minutes later when he released a wrist shot from the right circle to beat ward to the short side.
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