Blake, Kochetkov power Hurricanes to win over Devils

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Rookie Jackson Blake scored his first NHL goal and Pyotr Kochetkov made 23 saves in his season debut as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Tuesday night.

Seth Jarvis, Shayne Gostisbehere and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes, who played their second game of the season after an opening loss to Tampa Bay on Friday.

Jake Hughes and Nico Hischier scored for the Devils, who had a two-game winning streak halted. Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots.

Blake, a 21-year-old out of the University of North Dakota who was drafted 109th overall by Carolina in 2021, redirected a shot from Dmitry Orlov at 10:16 of the third period to extend the Hurricanes' lead to 3-1.

Hughes scored on a shot through Kochetkov’s legs 1:16 into the second period to give the Devils a 1-0 lead, and was the 10th goal scorer for New Jersey this season.

Takeaways

Devils: New Jersey was in its second set of back-to-back games this season after a home win against Utah and didn’t show much energy by the latter part of the game. The Devils had more than 30 shots in three of their first five games. They had 24 against Carolina.

Hurricanes: Carolina scored four goals in the last 30 minutes of the game.

Key moment

The Hurricanes killed a third-period penalty after Hischier’s 5-on-3 score to preserve the lead. Carolina allowed two power-play goals in the opener against Tampa Bay.

Key stat

Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi helped set up Gostisbehere’s go-ahead goal and earned an assist on the sequence for his 100th career point. It came in his 400th NHL game. There was also a milestone for Aho, who skated in his 600th game and scored into an empty net.

Up Next

The Devils visit Ottawa on Thursday night, while the Hurricanes begin a six-game trip Friday night at Pittsburgh.

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