Hurricanes ease past Devils again in Game 2 of Eastern 2nd Round

RALEIGH, N.C. --Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored twice for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 6-1 win against the New Jersey Devils in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at PNC Arena on Friday.

Jordan Martinook had a goal and an assist, and Frederik Andersen made 28 saves for the Hurricanes, the No. 1 seed in the Metropolitan Division.

Carolina won 5-1 in Game 1 of the best-of-7 series Wednesday. Game 3 is in New Jersey on Sunday.

"Everybody is doing their job right now, and that's why we're having success," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "Freddie was there, really all night. There was never really a time where he wasn't having to make some saves. That was the difference for sure."

RELATED: [Complete Hurricanes vs. Devils series coverage]

Miles Wood scored for the Devils, the No. 2 seed in the Metropolitan. Akira Schmid allowed four goals on 25 shots before being relieved at the start of the third period by Vitek Vanecek, who made eight saves.

"I thought there were opportunities by our top players in both the first and second period to make a play or finish and score a goal. We didn't get it done," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "We're all in this together. The battle wasn't good enough. To a man, we know how hard they compete."

Andersen helped set the tone for Carolina in the first period when Jesper Fast was called for tripping at 3:33 and Martinook for high-sticking at 5:10, resulting in a 5-on-3 for 23 seconds. He made six saves during the power plays, including a blocker save on Jack Hughes and a shot from atop the crease by Jesper Bratt.

"We had a good couple [penalty] kills early on to get the momentum on our side a little bit," Andersen said. "You just have fun out there and try to play the game, let it come to you and read and react."

Kotkaniemi gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 1:35 of the second period on a power play when Shayne Gostisbehere found him alone in the right face-off circle for a wrist shot that beat Schmid under his right arm. He then made it 2-0 at 3:58 by kicking the puck to his stick for a goal near the right post after Martinook and Fast battled Jonas Siegenthaler and Nico Hischier behind the net.

"It feels good," Kotkaniemi said. "Especially when you play with [Martinook] and [Fast], you get a lot of pucks in the slot. You just need to be aware all the time when the puck is coming. They make my job pretty easy there."

Jordan Staal made it 3-0 at 17:25. After Jack Drury chipped the puck to Staal at New Jersey's blue line, the Hurricanes captain broke in and went forehand-backhand before tucking the puck in at the right post.

Martin Necas pushed it to 4-0 at 19:44 when he scored from the slot off a pass from Gostisbehere.

Wood cut it to 4-1 at 3:49 of the third period, scoring on a wrist shot after Jalen Chatfield poked the puck away from Michael McLeod in the slot. It was Wood's first goal in 10 NHL playoff games.

"We shot ourselves in the foot," Wood said. "We didn't come out the way we talked about. They're a tough team. [They're] structured, well-coached, compete hard on all pucks, and we couldn't match that tonight."

Martinook made it 5-1 at 12:48, scoring top shelf on a breakaway after intercepting a pass inside Carolina's blue line.

"To get the breakaway, I like that shot," Martinook said. "It got a piece of him but it still went in. So, take it and hopefully we keep it going here."

Stefan Noesen finished a 2-on-1 with Sebastian Aho at 13:42 for the 6-1 final.

NOTES: Schmid was also pulled in Game 1 after allowing three goals on 11 shots in 21:55. ... Devils forward Timo Meier had five shots on goal, two hits, one blocked shot and was minus-1 in 16:49 after missing Game 1 with an upper-body injury. … New Jersey is 0-for-18 on the power play in six games against Carolina this season, including 0-for-3 in Game 2. … Hurricanes goalie Antti Raanta participated in the morning skate but was a late scratch due to illness. Pyotr Kochetkov served as the backup. … Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin had one assist and has 25 career assists in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, tying Ron Francis for second-most in Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers history. Only Aho has more (32). … Gostisbehere and Drury each had two assists. They were Drury's first points in six career playoff games.