The Carolina Hurricanes erased a one-goal deficit with a decisive second-period surge, skating to a 5-2 regulation win over the New Jersey Devils. Trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes, the Hurricanes turned the game on a three-goal flurry inside 5:38 to take control and never looked back.
New Jersey struck first when Timo Meier finished a feed from Nico Hischier at 18:00 of the opening period. Carolina answered early in the second: Nikolaj Ehlers tied it at 1-1 at 31:00 (assisted by Taylor Hall), Jackson Blake put the Hurricanes ahead at 34:00 (from Shayne Gostisbehere), and Jordan Staal made it 3-1 at 36:00. In the third, Gostisbehere scored unassisted at 56:00 and Seth Jarvis added a power-play goal at 58:00 (from Sebastian Aho) to make it 5-1 before Evgenii Dadonov’s late strike at 60:00 closed the scoring.
Shayne Gostisbehere was the difference maker, registering a goal and an assist during Carolina’s pivotal second-period break. The Hurricanes’ 5-2 victory improved their record in regulation while the Devils could not recover from the 3-1 deficit after 40 minutes.