Hurricanes beat Devils, keep playoff hopes alive
NEWARK, N.J. -- Jeff Skinner continued his recent goal-scoring splurge Saturday night at the Prudential Center, helping the Carolina Hurricanes keep their faint playoff hopes alive with a 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.
With the game tied 1-1 midway through the third period, Skinner stripped the puck from Devils captain Andy Greene at the Carolina blue line and streaked down the ice on a breakaway. Skinner beat Devils goalie Cory Schneider with his 30th goal of the season at the 9:34 mark of the period.
The score extended Skinner's goal-scoring streak to five games and point streak to six (seven goals, two assists). This is the third time Skinner reached the 30-goal plateau in his career.
Eddie Lack made 26 saves for the Hurricanes (33-27-13), who remain five points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference with nine games left on their schedule.
Sebastian Aho scored twice for Carolina, including a tally with 3:14 to play in the third which upped the Hurricanes lead to two goals.
Schneider stopped 25 shots for the last-place Devils (27-35-12), who lost four of their last five games. New Jersey was officially eliminated from playoff contention.
After a scoreless first period, the Hurricanes struck first at 2:47 of the second period following an extended shift in the offensive zone. Aho buried a brilliant pass by Elias Lindholm from behind the goal line.
The Devils tied the game before the second period was over, capitalizing on a Carolina turnover in the neutral zone.
Taylor Hall collected the errant puck and quickly transitioned the other way, before finding Travis Zajac skating down the middle. Zajac beat Lack through the five-hole for his 14th goal of the season, and first in 11 games, at 17:03 to make it 1-1.
NOTES: The Devils dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen as coach John Hynes opted to make RW Stefan Noesen a healthy scratch in favor of D Steven Santini, who returned to the lineup. ... New Jersey also scratched LW Michael Cammalleri (upper body), C Jacob Josefson (upper body) and RW Devante Smith-Pelly (lower body). ... Hurricanes C Elias Lindholm extended his point streak to 10 games (four goals, seven assists) with an assist on Sebastian Aho's second-period goal. ... Aho has a six-game point streak (three goals, five assists). ... The Hurricanes scratched C Jay McClement (lower body), LW Valentin Zykov (upper body) and D Matt Tennyson.