Carolina Hurricanes' Andrei Svechnikov, centre, celebrates his goal with Jesperi Kotkaniemi (82) and Taylor Hall (71) during the third period of Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the New Jersey Devils in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes just wanted to be healthy going into the Stanley Cup playoffs, even if it meant resting key players and stumbling down the stretch of the regular season.

The first payoff came Sunday.

Logan Stankoven scored two second-period goals in his first playoff game with Carolina as the Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 to open their first-round best-of-seven series. Carolina led 3-0, more than doubled New Jersey's shot output and kept the pressure on in a strong start to the post-season.

“Obviously it was pretty clear that I think we were looking forward to this day for a bit now,” goaltender Frederik Andersen said.

Jalen Chatfield scored a first-period goal for the Hurricanes, who kept steady pressure on Devils netminder Jacob Markstrom. Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net clincher late in the third.

Carolina had lost seven of its last eight regular-season games since clinching its seventh straight playoff trip on April 3, several coming with stars and key contributors out of the lineup. In that sense, it had been a long wait to get here, back on home ice with a rowdy home crowd in playoff mode.

“There's always that worry that maybe you come out a little sluggish or whatever,” coach Rod Brind'Amour said. “But obviously that wasn't the case. And we were healthy, a healthy group. So it was a calculated risk maybe, but at least after Game 1, that was the right decision.”

Andersen finished with 23 saves for Carolina, including a key stop on Timo Meier near the crease midway through the third. The Hurricanes also turned away a Devils power play with about eight minutes left to stay in firm control.

Nico Hischier scored New Jersey's only goal by taking Jesper Bratt’s cross-ice pass and blasting the puck past Andersen during a 4-on-4 chance in the second.

Carolina finished with a 45-24 shot advantage.

“They're not doing anything special,” Hischier said. "They play simple hockey, hard hockey, and we’ve just got to match that.”

Markstrom finished with 41 saves on what turned out to be a rough afternoon physically for the Devils, who had multiple players skating to the tunnel with injuries.

First defenceman Brenden Dillon went down in the second period after getting tangled with Carolina's William Carrier, then struggled to stay on his feet before being helped to the tunnel. Coach Sheldon Keefe said Dillon wanted to return but doctors held him out.

Later, the Devils lost two players on a single chaotic sequence in the third, which started with defenceman Luke Hughes laying in the net then doubled over in pain while reaching for his left shoulder. Almost immediately, Markstrom took a whack at Svechnikov near the top of the crease only to inadvertently hit centre Cody Glass and knock him to the ice.

While Hughes was able to return, Glass was assisted to the tunnel and Keefe had no update on him afterward.

Chatfield got the Hurricanes off to a quick start with a goal just 2:24 into the game. Then it was a big day for Stankoven, who was the primary return in a trade-deadline deal that allowed Carolina to pivot out of its big-swing January addition of scoring winger Mikko Rantanen.

Stankoven first zipped the puck past Markstrom off a feed from Jordan Martinook, who had forced Hischier into a turnover along the boards, at 6:37 of the second. He struck again on the power play, with Stankoven blasting a shot past Markstrom and off the inside of the left post for the 3-0 edge.

“I thought the second period, we were just overwhelmed,” Keefe said. “That was not good enough. The third period was good. The damage was done by then.”

Game 2 of the series is Tuesday.

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