Recap: Canes Oust Devils As Aho Nets Double-Overtime Dagger

RALEIGH, N.C. - Sebastian Aho beat Jacob Markstrom with a one-timer in double overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 5-4 victory over the New Jersey Devils in Game 5. With the win, Carolina advances to Round 2 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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Carolina's hopes of closing out the series took a hit early on as the Devils raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes and carried that lead into the intermission. But by 5:40 of the second stanza, the resilient Canes had tied the contest at three.

Taylor Hall kicked off the comeback at 1:46 of the second, poking home a loose puck on the goal line after his seam pass found Logan Stankoven for a one-timer that leaked through Markstrom. Just 2:15 later, Jackson Blake made it a one-goal game as he swung around the net and chipped a shot through Markstrom's stick side. An electrified Lenovo Center willed its club to find the tying tally, and at 5:40, Andrei Svechnikov did so emphatically with a laser from the left circle.

New Jersey mustered a response through Nico Hischier a few minutes later, but the Hurricanes again punched back. With a pair of Devils in the box, Aho hammered home a Seth Jarvis feed to bag his first of two goals on the night and send the teams to the third tied at four.

While not without chances for both teams, the third period came and went without a goal, and the action continued into bonus hockey. The Hurricanes mounted a heavy assault in the first overtime period, outshooting the Devils 14-3, but failed to find a route past Markstrom until early in the second extra frame.

There, a four-minute high-sticking penalty to New Jersey's Dawson Mercer set the stage for Carolina's power play to go to work, and with just seven seconds to go in that man advantage, Aho teed off on a Shayne Gostisbehere setup and wired a shot past the right shoulder of Markstrom to complete Carolina's comeback win.

Pyotr Kochetkov made his first start of the series and turned aside 31 of 35 shots, settling in after a tough start.

Stats & Standouts

• With Tuesday's win, the Hurricanes became the fourth franchise in NHL history to win a playoff series in seven consecutive postseasons, joining the Canadiens (10 from 1984-93 & 1951-60), Flyers (9 from 1973-81) and Islanders (7 from 1979-85).
• Similarly, Rod Brind'Amour is the first head coach in NHL history to win at least one playoff series in each of his first seven seasons behind the bench.
• Carolina also became the fourth team in the past decade to win a series-clinching game after erasing a deficit of three or more goals: Dallas (Game 6 of 2020 R1), San Jose (Game 7 of 2019 R1) and Calgary (Game 6 of 2015 R1).
• The Canes erased multiple deficits en route to their Game 5 victory. The last time an NHL team trailed multiple times before winning a series-clinching game? Fittingly, also Carolina, as it topped New Jersey in Game 5 of their 2023 playoff battle.
• The Hurricanes became the sixth franchise in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68) with five consecutive series victories versus one opponent (NJD), joining the Bruins (7 vs. TOR), Canadiens (7 vs. BOS), Penguins (7 vs. WSH), Oilers (6 vs. LAK) and Stars (5 vs. EDM).
• Andrei Svechnikov scored his 20th career goal – and fourth over the past two games – to surpass Eric Staal and Teuvo Teravainen for the second-most in playoff goals in franchise history. The list is topped by Sebastian Aho (30).
• Svechnikov also set a new career high in shots on goal with 9 in Game 5 - the most he's fired on net in any game, playoffs or regular season.
• Jackson Blake's second-period strike marked the first playoff goal of his young career. The rookie has found the scoresheet in three of five games during this series, and his four points (1G, 3A) rank second among all first-year NHLers in the postseason.
• Sebastian Aho scored his ninth and 10th career playoff power-play goals, passing Rod Brind'Amour (8) and matching Eric Staal (10) for the most in franchise history. Aho also recorded his second career series-clinching goal and tied Cory Stillman for the most in franchise history.

They Said It...

Rod Brind'Amour on what was said during the first intermission, sparking the team's comeback...

“Trash that [first period], let’s try to get back in the game. Let’s see if we can close the gap and give it a chance. The guys did. Clearly. From that point on, it was exactly the way that we need to play. Overtime, it just kept getting better and better. It was one of those games, where when you watch enough overtime and you don’t score and you don’t score, [you think the other team is going to score]. But I give the guys so much credit, because there’s not many games that even when we don’t play well, we don’t get back in the game. We find a way. That’s what happened.”

Sebastian Aho on the team's reset after the first period...

“We kind of talked a little bit in the room that we just needed to restart in a way there. Obviously a big goal there by Hallsy… crowd really picked up there, we gained a lot of momentum there and kind of took over the game after that.”

Jackson Blake discussing how it's just not in the team's DNA to roll over, even when things looked bleak early on...

“Some teams would just pack it in and say we’re down 3-0 and we’d have a 3-2 lead after this game, but that’s just not the way we are..."

Jaccob Slavin describing the second period...

“It was fun, right? You got the crowd into it, the Caniacs were buzzing. There’s momentum swings in games and obviously during the playoffs, it’s really important to have them on your side. It was good for us to win that period and then just take it one period at a time.”

Sebastian Aho on the feeling of scoring the double-overtime goal...

“Felt unreal, obviously. You almost, like, black out for a second there. The crowd goes nuts, guys are jumping on you, and it’s unreal. Really good feeling.”

Andrei Svechnikov on his strong play in the series...

“I had a good series, but I feel like right now [it’s time to] move on. It’s going to be a new series. I’ve got to continue [doing] what I’ve got to do. It was lots of effort from everyone, we played good and I’m glad we won this.”

Andrei Svechnikov on the Canes' success on the power play in Round 1...

“I think we’ve just got a plan in our head. We’re moving the puck very well, trying to put the puck more at the net and be around it and look for those rebounds. Great retrievals, moving the puck and just having a plan in our head...Once you score one goal, you feel the confidence. Once you score in a couple of games, you just hopefully don’t stop.”

Rod Brind'Amour celebrating the team winning a playoff series for the seventh consecutive season...

“It’s what we try to hang our hat on - being consistent. Obviously we want to win the whole thing, that’s the goal. It’s extremely hard to do. Everyone understands that. It’s extremely hard if you’re not healthy. You just played a team that was beat down and missing a lot of players. It’s hard to win in the playoffs when you don’t have your group. It should look like that, in my opinion. In all the years that we’ve come up short, we’re missing guys. If we can stay healthy, I think we’ve got a good opportunity. That’s going to be the key to this.”

What's Next?

The Hurricanes now await their second-round opponent and schedule.

Tickets for Round 2 will go on sale to the general public on Friday, May 2 at 12 p.m. ET.

STM presale will occur on Thursday, May 1 at 12 p.m. ET.