The New Jersey Devils headed back to home ice in their second-round series with the Carolina Hurricanes knowing they needed to score more than the two combined goals they had in Games 1 and 2 in Raleigh.
Home ice proved to be where the Devils' offense remains hot.
New Jersey defeated Carolina in Game 3 on Sunday after exploding for eight goals compared to the Hurricanes' four in what felt like a must-win game for them.
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It started with three unanswered scores in the first period, one that Devils fans at Prudential Center went crazy over.
Timo Meier finally got his first Stanley Cup playoff goal after a perfect pass between the legs by Jack Hughes behind the Carolina net saw Meier wrap the puck around to the front and push it past Freddie Anderson.
Hughes then found the back of the net after an odd-man rush by the Devils halfway through the period that resulted in a top-shelf snipe from his left-handed stick. It was Hughes’ fourth of the playoffs.
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And just minutes later on a short-handed opportunity, Michael McLeod once again found himself with a goal on assists from captain Nico Hischier and John Marino. He scored short-handed in Game 7 against the New York Rangers as well.
That set the tone for this game and went even further when Hischier joined the goal-scoring party with his first of the playoffs just 53 seconds into the second period.
Sebastian Aho of the Hurricanes quickly responded to finally get Carolina on the board with his fifth goal, but Damon Severson would get that goal back later in the second when he rushed to the net and picked out the top left shelf under the bar.
That goal came against Pyotr Kochetkov, who relieved Anderson after the Hischier goal.
Severson was also assisted by defensive linemate Luke Hughes, the brother of Jack Hughes, who got the start as head coach Lindy Huff wanted to switch things up on the back end after the Hurricanes scored 11 combined goals in Games 1 and 2 at home.
After Jordan Martinook scored on a penalty shot, the second period clock would hit zero with the Devils still in a commanding position at 5-2, but it clearly wasn’t enough.
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Miles Wood, Jack Hughes and Ondrej Palat tallied a goal in the third period, while Jordan Staal and Seth Jarvis also got on the board with short-handed goals apiece.
In the end, the 12 combined goals worked out in the Devils’ favor and certainly changed the story in this series.
The Devils were also down two games to none against the Rangers in the first round before charging back with three straight wins in games 3, 4, 5. They would obviously love to do the same in this series if they can.
The Devils and Hurricanes will play Game 4 at Prudential Center on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
