Timo Meier scored and Jacob Markstrom made 29 saves for the Devils (24-22-2), who had won two in a row.
"There's a lot of stuff we have to clean up," Meier said. "It's frustrating. It's really important with this (four-game) road trip coming up and this stretch before the Olympic break to start collecting some points. It's tight but every point matters."
Carolina, which is first in the Metropolitan Division, is 3-0-0 against New Jersey this season. The Devils are sixth in the Metropolitan Division.
"It's a big difference when No. 74 (Jaccob Slavin) is in the lineup," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said of his defenseman who returned to the lineup on Jan. 10 after missing 10 games with an upper-body injury. "I think you can't understate that. Suddenly he goes in there and it seems like whenever he's on the ice, we're in good shape, so it's a welcome addition to getting him back."
Slavin was a plus-2 in 19:21 of ice time for the Hurricanes.
"We're doing it to ourselves I feel like," Markstrom said. "It's a tough way to lose when you feel like we're doing the right things, then mistakes, and it's in the back of our net."
Svechnikov gave Carolina a 1-0 lead after taking a back pass from Aho and snapping a shot while skating down the slot at 13:12 of the second period.
"I was in the slot and had to shoot quickly, and personally I thought it was a pretty good shot underneath the glove," said Svechnikov, who has four goals in his past two games. "I'm kind of a big boy so I have to use my body. Whenever I use my body I kind of create the space for my linemates."
He made it 2-0 just 57 seconds later on a snap shot from the right face-off circle that beat Markstrom between the pads at 14:09.
"Svechnikov understands it's not just about getting a goal and creating offense,” Brind’Amour said. “There's another element to the game and he's constantly working on that understanding time and place of games. I think he's matured in that area. Obviously, we know he's got a lot of talent."
Meier scored a power-play goal to pull the Devils within 2-1 at 4:27 of the third period on a shot from the top of the left face-off circle.
Jackson Blake made it 3-1 on a delayed penalty call when he took a pass from Nikolaj Ehlers in stride in the slot and scored on a backhand at 8:33 of the third.
"They don't give you a lot of time and space to get into spots to get sustained offense but we were in alone on their goalie six times tonight so as much as it's not an abundance of offense or shots, we're in alone a bunch of times with some of our best people but got to make it count," said New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe, whose team was 1-for-4 on the power play on Saturday. "We weren't disciplined and composed and paid for it."
Svechnikov scored his third goal on a snap shot from the bottom of the left circle at 15:52 of the third for the 4-1 final. Aho had the primary assist on all three Svechnikov goals.
"We've been together for eight years and playing on and off but I feel like we have great chemistry together," Svechnikov said when asked about playing with Aho. "We're always trying to go, go, go, every time."
NOTES: Svechnikov had his 30th career game-winning goal to pass Jordan Staal, Blaine Stoughton and Brind'Amour for sole possession of seventh most in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history. ... Forward Jesper Bratt had one shot on goal in 18:26 of ice time in his 600th NHL game, all with the Devils.
