Hurricanes focus on victory in Game 5 to eliminate Devils, not Cup chase

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes are one win from advancing to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2019, but that won't be their focus heading into Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the New Jersey Devils at PNC Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS).

It would be the next small step the Hurricanes need to take on what they hope will be a much longer journey, and they are not looking beyond it.

"It's part of it," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said Wednesday. "You've got to focus on the next game. Obviously, there's a bigger goal here, but the goal right now is to try to find one more win here."

The Hurricanes lead 3-1 in the best-of-7 series following a 6-1 road win in Game 4 on Tuesday. Carolina was in the same position against the New York Islanders in the first round and lost 3-2 in Game 5 at home. The Hurricanes closed out that series with a 2-1 overtime win in Game 6 on the road but would prefer to avoid that scenario again against the Devils, who overcame a 2-0 series deficit against the New York Rangers in the first round to win in seven games.

"I think we've got to look at what's made us successful against this team," forward Jordan Martinook said. "It's just been simple hockey and just work ethic. I think our games that we played here (at home), we were dialed in. … We know teams with their backs up against the wall play their best hockey and we've got to try and match that and be better than that."

RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs. Devils series coverage]

Oddly, the Game 5 loss in the opening round was Carolina's lone defeat at home this postseason. Though road teams have had their way in the other series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (37-22), the Hurricanes are 4-1 at home, outscoring opponents 19-9, including 11-2 in the first two games against the Devils.

Carolina is 11-2 at home in the playoffs the past two seasons.

"We've been good all year at home and fan support, having them behind us and getting into the game and just getting hits, our momentum is huge when we're at home," defenseman Jalen Chatfield said.

But as Brind'Amour noted, "It's loud everywhere now."

The Hurricanes' starts have helped. They scored at least the first two goals in each of their home playoff wins this postseason and gave up the first two in the lone home loss.

Though Brind'Amour downplayed getting certain matchups at home with the last change, the impact of having Jordan Staal's line and the defense pair of Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns against opponents' top lines is undeniable. In the first round, the Islanders' line of Anders Lee, Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal was limited to one goal 5-on-5 (scored by Barzal in Game 2) in the three games at Carolina.

Center Jack Hughes, who set a New Jersey record with 99 points (43 goals, 56 assists) during the regular season, had no points and was minus-4 in the first two games at Carolina. Linemates Erik Haula (no points, minus-4) and Ondrej Palat (no points, minus-6) also were blanked.

But in the two games at Prudential Center, where the Devils were able to get Hughes away from Staal, he had five points (three goals, two assists), including four (two goals, two assists) in an 8-4 win in Game 3 on Sunday. Palat had two points (one goal, one assist) in the two games in New Jersey and Haula has no points in the series.

"You can match up all you want on one line. Well, what about the other lines?" Brind'Amour said. "So for me, that's really not the issue. We've got to shut down everybody, and they're hopefully saying the same thing about our group."

A key for the Hurricanes throughout the series has been their depth. Carolina is missing three of its top six forwards with Andrei Svechnikov (torn ACL), Max Pacioretty (torn Achilles tendon) and Teuvo Teravainen (broken hand) out, but have gotten contributions elsewhere in the lineup.

Martinook has been the biggest surprise with nine points (three goals, six assists) in the first four games after having none in the first round and 34 (13 goals, 21 assists) during the regular season. Staal has six points in the series (two goals, four assists), forward Jesper Fast has five (two goals, three assists) and center Jesperi Kotkaniemi (three goals, one assist), forward Seth Jarvis (two goals, two assists) and defenseman Brett Pesce (two goals, two assists) each has four. Forward Martin Necas also has scored three goals.

Hughes and forward Miles Wood (two) are the only Devils players to score more than one goal, and Hughes is the lone New Jersey player with more than three points.

"I think it's more a testament to the overall group and the guys that we have left here," Brind'Amour said. "The facts are we're missing some pieces, but that doesn't change anybody's job and what we have to do. It might give guys more opportunity, but we've got a way we want to do things and the next guy comes in and he's expected to do it that way. So when we have that kind of group effort, we're a good team."