Simon Nemec lifts Devils over Hurricanes in Game 3 double overtime to trim series deficit
Simon Nemec scored 2:36 into the second overtime and the New Jersey Devils beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Friday night at the Prudential Center in Game 3 of the first-round playoff series.Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer scored in regulation for New Jersey and Jacob Markstrom had 25 saves.The Devils cut their series deficit to 2-1 after losing the first two games on the road.Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes, and Frederik Andersen finished with 34 saves.Game 4 is Sunday back at Prudential Center, and Game 5 is Tuesday night in Raleigh, North Carolina.In the second OT, Nemec brought the puck up the right side, made a deke move in the right circle and fired it past Andersen.Both teams had chances in the first overtime and the goalies came up with big saves and blocked shots.
New Jersey, which had two power plays in the period, had an 8-2 advantage on shots.Mercer pushed the Devils’ lead to 2-0 at 1:17 of the third period after Andersen made a pad save to deny Jesper Bratt’s driving attempt.With the goalie out of position, Mercer went behind the net to get the puck and brought it in front on the left side but whiffed on his attempt to tuck it in.
However, Andersen dove to get back in the play and knocked the puck across the line with his stick.Jarvis got the Hurricanes on the scoreboard with a power-play goal from the right circle at 6:11.Aho tied it with another power-play goal with 7:40 left.Markstrom came out to his left to make a save on a shot by Andrei Svechnikov, who got the puck back and passed to to Aho in the right circle and he fired it past Siegenthaler and Hischier in front of the net.Markstrom had a nice glove save on a shot by Jesperi Kotkaniemi with 25 seconds left in regulation to keep it tied.The Devils got defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler back for the first time since Feb.
4, but were without Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon for the second straight game.New Jersey then lost another defenseman, when Johnathan Kovacevic did...