By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sebastian Aho hammered a one-timer past Jacob Markstrom at 4:17 of the second overtime to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils 5-4 on Tuesday night to clinch their first-round playoff series in five games.
Aho’s score off a feed from Shayne Gostisbehere came with the Hurricanes on a four-minute power play on a double-minor high-sticking penalty by Dawson Mercer that sent Jesperi Kotkaniemi skating off to the tunnel with a towel to his face. Aho provided the capper, the only lead the Hurricanes would have in a wild game that pushed them into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
They’ll next play the winner of the Montreal-Washington series, with the Capitals leading 3-1 in that one.
The Devils skated out to a 3-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes, only to see Carolina erupt for four goals in a chaos-filled second period to level the game. But things settled down into a tough grinding finish for the third period and extra periods, capped ultimately by Aho’s second goal on the power play on the night.
Aho also had the goal that tied it 4-4 with 8:33 left in the second period with the Hurricanes holding a two-man advantage.
Taylor Hall, Jackson Blake and Andrei Svechnikov also scored for Carolina, which is one of four teams in the playoffs for at least seven straight years. But the Hurricanes are the only one of that group to win at least one postseason series each time.
It also marked the second time in three seasons that the Hurricanes had eliminated the Devils in a five-game series that ended with a sudden-death goal in Raleigh. The other came in the second round in 2023.
Mercer, Timo Meier and Stefan Noesen scored during New Jersey’s game-opening flurry, then Nico Hischier added a second-period goal for a 4-3 lead after Carolina’s rampaging comeback.
Markstrom finished with 48 saves for the Devils, operating as a one-man survival raft in the first overtime as Carolina put shot after shot on the net with a chance to advance riding on each one — including Carolina’s Seth Jarvis ringing the left post with about 4 1/2 minutes left in the first OT.
Carolina finished with a 34-12 edge in shots after the second period to put Markstrom under constant duress. He made 37 consecutive saves between Aho’s tying and winning goals.
Pyotr Kochetkov finished with 31 saves in his first start of the postseason for Carolina.