Hurricanes start fast, hang on late in win against Devils

RALEIGH, N.C. --Justin Williams and Micheal Ferland scored in the opening 30 seconds of the first period for the Carolina Hurricanes in a 2-1 win against the New Jersey Devils at PNC Arena on Sunday.

"Who would have thought that would have been all the scoring, just in the first period, and for us just 30 seconds?" Williams said. "Every game is a surprise. That was a battle and a grind. It's good for us to play some tough games like that to have confidence later on in the season."
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Curtis McElhinney made 33 saves for Carolina (9-8-3), which is 3-1-1 in its past five games.
"That's kind of been my career for the most part, especially in the NHL," said McElhinney about making his second start since Oct. 20. "I've gotten used to it, but it does have its challenges. Those things I've become accustomed to over the years, it feels pretty natural nowadays."

Pavel Zacha scored for New Jersey (8-9-2), which has lost two straight (0-1-1). Cory Schneider, who made 23 saves, is 0-14-2 in his past 16 starts and hasn't won since Dec. 27, 2017.
Williams scored 22 seconds into the game to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead, taking a pass from Jordan Staal and splitting Travis Zajac and Taylor Hall before beating Schneider five-hole. The goal was his second of the season and first in 15 games.
"Hopefully that can springboard me to some better offensive stats," Williams said.
Ferland scored eight seconds later to make it 2-0 when he took a cross-ice pass from Teuvo Teravainen and finished on the forehand.
Carolina's two goals in the opening 30 seconds is tied for fifth fastest in NHL history.
"I thought after the first 30 seconds we gathered ourselves and played well," Devils coach John Hynes said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't find a way to put the puck in the net."
Zacha cut it to 2-1 at 6:33 when he received a pass from Jesper Bratt in the slot and lifted a backhand past McElhinney.

After giving up 16 shots in the first period, Carolina limited New Jersey to 18 shots over the final two periods.
"They did a great job of coming back into the game and grinding and making it a tough game," Staal said. "It wasn't our best game, but we worked hard and got the points."

They said it

"I think a lot of things go into it, so I would say that in the games he's been in this year, we haven't found a way to win them. It's not on him. I don't think you can pinpoint a thing. It's a fact of the matter." -- Devils coach John Hynes on Cory Schneider
"We didn't do the things we wanted to do offensively. That's somewhat frustrating. We're nitpicking a little bit in the sense that, we got the win. But it's the process too. If we play like that, we're not going to be too successful overall. We didn't get the pucks in. We had quite a few turnovers in the wrong spots, and they just didn't capitalize." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour

Need to know

Zacha has goals in consecutive games after being held without a point in his first 12 games. … McElhinney is 5-1-0 against the Devils. ... The Edmonton Oilers have the NHL record for fastest two goals to start a game, doing it in 24 seconds against the Los Angeles Kings on March 28, 1982.

What's next

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, MSG+2, RDS, NHL.TV)
Hurricanes: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; SN, FS-CR, NHL.TV)