Devils dealt double blow in Game 1 loss as multiple players leave with injuries

RALEIGH, N.C.— Logan Stankoven scored two second-period goals on Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom in his first playoff game with Carolina and the Devs lost 4-1 to the Hurricanes to open their first-round series.

The Devils were behind 3-0, and the Hurricanes more than doubled the Devs’ shot output and kept the pressure on in a strong start to the postseason.“Obviously it was pretty clear that I think we were looking forward to this day for a bit now,” goaltender Frederik Andersen said.Jalen Chatfield scored a first-period goal for the Hurricanes, who kept steady pressure on Devils netminder Jacob Markstrom.Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net clincher late in the third.Carolina had lost seven of its last eight regular-season games since clinching its seventh straight playoff trip on April 3, several coming with stars and key contributors out of the lineup.

In that sense, it had been a long wait to get here, back on home ice with a rowdy home crowd in playoff mode.“There’s always that worry that maybe you come out a little sluggish or whatever,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said.“But obviously that wasn’t the case.

And we were healthy, a healthy group.So it was a calculated risk maybe, but at least after Game 1, that was the right decision.”Andersen finished with 23 saves for Carolina, including a key stop on Timo Meier near the crease midway through the third.

The Hurricanes also turned away a Devils power play with about eight minutes left to stay in firm control.Nico Hischier got New Jersey’s only goal by taking Jesper Bratt’s cross-ice pass and blasting the puck past Andersen during a 4-on-4 chance in the second.Carolina finished with a 45-24 shot advantage.“They’re not doing anything special,” Hischier said.“They play simple hockey, hard hockey, and we’ve just got to match that.”Markstrom finished with 41 saves on what turned out to be a rough afternoon physically for the Devils, who had multiple players skating to the tunnel wit...