The article is written by BOB SUTTON from the Associated Press.

RALEIGH, N.C.

The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Thursday night, with Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen both contributing a goal and an assist.

During the second period, New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff was hit in the face by a puck. Despite initially remaining on the bench, he did not return for the third period. The rest of the game was led by associate coach Travis Green.

Green mentioned that he wasn’t feeling well before, but now he seems to be doing slightly better than he was after the second time. It was great to witness this improvement.

Ruff holds the fourth spot among NHL coaches for most career regular-season wins, with a total of 858. He has also coached the fourth highest number of regular-season games in Devils history, with a total of 266.

Green expressed his disappointment in what occurred during the event. He acknowledged that it is a rare occurrence.

The Hurricanes, who have won three out of four games, also had a goal from Jordan Staal. Antti Raanta stopped 23 shots.

In the third period, Justin Dowling and Jesper Bratt each scored a goal for New Jersey. This was Dowling’s first game of the season with the Devils in the NHL.

The Devils’ goaltender, Nico Daws, was substituted after the Carolina team scored their third goal in the beginning of the second period. He made nine saves out of twelve shots before being replaced by Vitek Vanecek, who made 11 saves.

“I didn’t believe we were exceptional, but we persevered,” stated Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour. “We executed a few impressive plays and managed to stay in the game, which was sufficient.”

The Hurricanes have a record of 10 wins, 2 losses, and 1 tie since Christmas, including a victory against Boston last night.

The crowd erupted into cheers of “Raanta!” as the game came to a close.

Raanta expressed satisfaction with the positive reaction from the fans, stating that it was a result of his strong performance in the game. He also mentioned that he worked hard during the game and appreciated hearing praise from the fans afterwards.

This was the initial encounter between the teams following Carolina’s victory in a five-game second-round playoff series last season.

Aho quickly put his team on the scoreboard with his 17th goal of the season, only 90 seconds into the game. He made a powerful move from the blue line and fired a shot past Daws.

Carolina’s second goal occurred at the 2:54 mark of the second period, as Teravainen successfully scored off the Hurricanes’ first power play opportunity of the game from the initial faceoff. Staal’s goal, his first in 14 games, came just 25 seconds later with a successful tip-in.

Staal expressed his satisfaction in being able to score and contribute to the team’s success.

Dowling had a significant presence for the Devils, putting pressure on the net early in the game and scoring at 5:25 in the third period.

He expressed appreciation for the effort put into it and acknowledged the importance of occasional rewards.

New Jersey scored their 18th goal in the final 2.3 seconds of the game while having an additional player on the ice.

During the second period, it took almost 12 minutes for the Devils to successfully make a shot on goal. In the third period, the Hurricanes managed to make four shots.

UP NEXT

The Devils will be playing against Tampa Bay on Saturday.

The Hurricanes will be facing Arizona on Saturday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Source: wralsportsfan.com