Svechnikov gets hat trick, Hurricanes push Devils to brink with Game 4 win

NEWARK, N.J. -- Andrei Svechnikov scored a hat trick, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-2 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Prudential Center on Sunday.

It was Svechnikov's second NHL postseason hat trick. He scored three goals in a 4-1 win against the New York Rangers in Game 2 of the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers in 2020.

"Yeah, you know, obviously, in the season it was kind of a hard season for me, but right now, in the playoff time, it's kind of my time, you know?" Svechnikov said. "I love this time of the year."

The Hurricanes lead the best-of-7 series 3-1. Game 5 will be in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, MAX, MSGSN, TNT, TVAS2, SN360).

Brent Burns had a goal and an assist, and Jaccob Slavin also scored for Carolina, which is the No. 2 seed from the Metropolitan Division.

Frederik Andersen made six saves on seven shots before leaving the game with an undisclosed injury at 4:19 of the second period after being crashed into by Devils forward Timo Meier. He was replaced by Pyotr Kochetkov, who made 14 saves.

"First, tough moment for us," Kochetkov said. "You know, when Freddie was coming to the bench, [I went in the game] and I just tried to focus on the next shot. … I don't know how many [days] I didn't play, maybe 10 days (April 16), and a little bit needed to feel the puck and after I had a couple of shots and then the game was coming for me."

Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said Andersen would get checked out tomorrow.

“Obviously, he wasn't good enough to continue, so that's not a good sign, but I don't have any other information," he said. "We'll know more I guess tomorrow."

Meier had a goal and an assist, and Nico Hischier scored for New Jersey, which is the No. 3 seed from the Metropolitan. Jacob Markstrom made 24 saves.

"Our start wasn't good. They were just harder on pucks," Meier said. "They were winning more 50-50 battles, and then you get the result for it. But then we came back, came close, and we had a lot of momentum. We couldn't find the bounce and then didn't do enough to score to tie the game. Now we just got to go win a game in Carolina."

Svechnikov gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead 52 seconds into the game with a wrist shot through traffic from just outside the right circle.

Slavin made it 2-0 at 9:47 with a sharp-angled shot from the left side that beat Markstrom over his right shoulder. The play started when Slavin broke up a pass attempt with his stick and got the puck around Stefan Noesen.

"We had a little bit of O-zone time there and I knew they were tired, and they were just trying to get the puck out, and so just trying to have a good gap," Slavin said. "And ended up knocking it out of the air. I looked back and I think everyone on our team was changing, too, so just tried to throw it on the net and got lucky.”

Svechnikov scored 42 seconds into the second period, tipping in a shot from Seth Jarvis on the power play to extend the lead to 3-0.

"It's awesome," Slavin said about Svechnikov. "Obviously, he's a huge part of our team and can control the game out there with his skill, his presence, his physicality, his overall game, and when he's playing like that, it just makes us that much better of a team. It's huge for him, and hopefully he just keeps doing that."

Hischier brought the Devils to within 3-1 at 2:45, scoring off a rebound in front.

Meier then cut it to 3-2 at 7:34, getting to a loose puck and scoring off a spin from the right circle.

"The biggest thing was we got outcompeted the whole period, and that's not the way to start a period, and going down against these guys 3-0 is not in our plan," Hischier said. "So, we got to be way better than that.

"We haven't lost the series yet. We just got to go out there, win the road game and bring the series back here. That's all in my mind right now."

Burns scored at 14:14 of the third period to make it 4-2, and Svechnikov completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 16:43 for the 5-2 final.

"It's unbelievable. I mean, that guy so well-deserved," said Jackson Blake, who had an assist on two of Svechnikov's goals. "He's been bringing it every night in the playoffs, and it's been fun to see him, to play with him. I mean, on the empty-netter, I had to look for him. I mean, I'm happy he had that night, and it's good for his confidence. And I'm excited to see what he keeps on doing."

Carolina is now one win away from advancing to the second round of the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons under Brind’Amour.

"It's a good feeling, obviously" Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. "You want to be going home and taking it to them in front of our fans. … We're happy where we are at right now, but the last one is always the hardest."

NOTES: Svechnikov is the fifth player in NHL history to account for a franchise's first two playoff hat tricks, joining Wayne Gretzky (first three with the Edmonton Oilers), Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa Senators), Doug Bentley (Chicago Blackhawks) and Paul Reinhart (Calgary Flames). It was also Svechnikov's fourth career multigoal playoff game, tying Sebastian Aho and Kevin Dineen for the most in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history. … The Devils were 0-for-2 on the power play and are 0-for-12 in the series. They had the third-best power play in the NHL during the regular season (28.2 percent). … Forward Mark Jankowski made his series debut for the Hurricanes, replacing Jack Roslovic. He had two shots on goal in 13:26 of ice time. … Devils defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic did not play after leaving Game 3 on Friday following the first period with an undisclosed injury. New Jersey was also without defensemen Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon for the third straight game.