Marcus Johansson scored two goals as the New Jersey Devils snapped a three-game losing streak by defeating the visiting Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at Newark, N.J.
The Devils concluded a four-game homestand with their only victory during that stretch.
Pavel Zacha also scored for New Jersey. Nico Hischier supplied three assists.
Johansson's second goal came with 4:04 to play, providing the Devils with a 3-1 lead. That was set up by Jesper Bratt's work in transition.
New Jersey goalie Keith Kinkaid made 33 saves. He had played in only one of the team's previous four games, but he improved his record to 15-16-6 this season.
Dougie Hamilton and Teuvo Teravainen scored for the Hurricanes. Nino Niederreiter assisted on both goals, while Sebastian Aho picked up his 39th assist of the season.
Carolina goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 18 shots.
Kinkaid stopped the first 15 shots he faced in the third period before Teravainen's power-play goal with 1:27 remaining.
Half of Carolina's 34 shots came in the third period.
Mrazek, who was coming off a 27-save shutout of the New York Rangers two days earlier, was sharp at times again.
Carolina had won the first three games of a five-game road trip, moving to the verge of playoff position in the Eastern Conference. The Hurricanes dropped to 13-5-1 in their last 19 games.
Zacha's goal opened the scoring shortly after the midway mark of the first period. He was assisted by defenseman Ryan Murphy, a former Carolina player appearing in his first game for New Jersey. It was Murphy's third NHL game of the season, playing earlier with the Minnesota Wild before a recent trade to the Devils.
Johansson's first goal came with 57 seconds left in the first period for a 2-0 lead.
Kinkaid was nearly flawless until Hamilton's second-period shot got through as his Hurricanes teammates created a disruption in front of the net.
New Jersey has won two of three meetings with Carolina this season, with each team winning at home.
--Field Level Media
Carolina | New Jersey | |
Nino Niederreiter 2 | Points | Nico Hischier 3 |
Dougie Hamilton 1 | Goals | Marcus Johansson 2 |
Nino Niederreiter 2 | Assists | Nico Hischier 3 |
Teuvo Teravainen 1 | Power Play Goals | Pavel Zacha 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Petr Mrazek .857 | Save Percentage | Keith Kinkaid .943 |
Petr Mrazek 18 | Saves | Keith Kinkaid 33 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Carolina | 35 | 2 | 1-5 | 3-4 | 15 | 29 |
New Jersey | 21 | 3 | 1-4 | 4-5 | 17 | 37 |