“We were playing in the right way,” said Caroline Jaccob Slavin. “We had the upper hand over them and they were bottled in their territory. We obtained opportunities. Possibly, it reported. It was pleasant. The crowd is embarked in the meeting. »»
The Hurricanes became the fourth concession in the NHL history to win a series in seven consecutive seasons, after the Montreal Canadiens (10 between 1984 and 1993 and between 1951 and 1960), the Philadelphia flyers (9, 1973 to 1981) and the New York Islanders (7, 1979 to 1985).
But the start of the match did not announce anything good. The Devils scored three times in the first 10 minutes to quickly take the lead.
“We were not ourselves in the first period,” said striker Andrei Svechnikov. “At the first intermission, we launched the message we had to be calm and come back to our style. We came out vigorously and we scored three goals immediately, which was pleasant, and we continued to practice our game. ”
The coach of the Caroline Rod Brind’amour simply hoped for a spark.
“I was looking for anything, admitted Brind’amour. I didn’t even talk about the power game. We had to reset and throw this first period to the trash to try to return to the game. It was the message. Let’s see if we can reduce the gap and give ourselves a chance. The guys did it. »»
Taylor Hall launched the back to 1:46 of the second commitment. Recruit striker Jackson Blake reduced the gap to 3-2 to 4:01, then Svechnikov leveled the brand 3-3 to 5:40.
Captain of Devils Nico Hischier gave the lead 4-3 to his family at 7:26 of the second before seeing AHO scored his first goal of the match during a power game at 5-Conte-3.
-“There was still a lot of hockey to play,” said Slavin. We drew back from the back, but there were still 50 minutes left. You try to do your best by drawing on your resources. You take things a presence at the same time and you win the small battles. We were ready to play in the second period. »»
The Hurricanes dominated the battle of special units in the series, ending with a yield of 6-in-19s in digital advantage (31.6%) and 15-in-15 in inferiority.
“The special units hurt us, there is no doubt,” said Hischier. This is certainly a big reason why we have lost the series. Our power game was unable to start and it is our fault, including me. It was certainly frustrating. »»
New Jersey missed three opportunities and unleashed six shots in numerical superiority on Tuesday, even if Stefan Noesen hit the target only three seconds after the end of a penalty awarded to Caroline to do 3-0 to 9:55 of the first third.
“In the locker room, we mentioned that we had to reset (in the second period),” said Aho. Hall scored a big goal that gave us momentum. The crowd was embarked in the match at that time, and we took control of the game. »»
Since 2018-19, the Hurricanes have reached the final of the association of the East twice, bowing against the Boston Bruins in 2019 and the Panthers of Florida in 2023, two times in four games.
“I have several brothers in this team,” said defender Brett Pesce, who spent nine seasons with the Hurricanes before signing a six -year contract with the Devils on July 1. “This team is united, and I have built friendships for life. Hockey passed above all during the series and we did not say to ourselves a word. This is how it should be when you laugh so fiercely to win.
“I wished them good luck and I hope they will finally be able to go to the end. »»
