Hurricanes sail to easy win over Devils in Game 1 of second round

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The Carolina Hurricanes dominated the New Jersey Devils in Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at home Wednesday night. 

New Jersey was riding high after its Game 7 win over the New York Rangers to advance to this series with the Hurricanes. 

But Carolina was rested after taking down the New York Islanders in six games, and the Hurricanes wasted no time getting after their opponent when the puck dropped in Raleigh. 

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Seth Jarvis (24) of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrates after scoring a goal during the first period against the New Jersey Devils in Game 1 of the second round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PNC Arena May 3, 2023, in Raleigh, N.C.  (Josh Lavallee/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Hurricanes dominated the Devils from the jump, getting 13 shot attempts off to New Jersey’s one to start the game. On that 13th attempt, Brett Pesce got an offensive zone faceoff at his stick, waited for the right time and sent a screaming wrister toward net, which Devils goaltender Akira Schmid didn’t see through multiple skaters. 

It was Pesce’s first goal of the playoffs, and Jordan Staal tallied his third assist.  

Two more goals went the home team’s way after that. Seth Jarvis blocked a pass and sped down ice to lift one past Schmid to make it 2-0. 

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Not even two minutes into the second period, a battle on the boards in the Hurricanes’ offensive zone saw the puck land on Jesper Fast’s stick. After throwing it over to Jordan Martinook, he quickly found Jesperi Kotkaniemi for a wide-open