RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) 鈥� Logan Stankoven scored two second-period goals in his first playoff game with Carolina as the Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on Sunday to open their first-round series in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Jalen Chatfield scored a first-period goal for the Hurricanes, who carried a 3-0 lead late into the second period and kept consistent pressure on Devils netminder Jacob Markstrom. Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net clincher late in the third.
Frederik Andersen finished with 23 saves for Carolina, including a key stop on Timo Meier near the crease midway through the third. The Hurricanes also turned away a Devils power play with about eight minutes left to stay in firm control.
Nico Hischier got New Jersey on the board by taking Jesper Bratt鈥檚 cross-ice pass and blasting the puck past Andersen during a 4-on-4 chance.
Markstrom finished with 41 saves on what turned out to be a rough afternoon physically for the Devils, who saw defenceman Brenden Dillon skating to the tunnel in the second period, then fellow blue-liner Luke Hughes and forward Cody Glass skating off after a single chaotic sequence in the third.
It was a quality start for Carolina, which had lost seven of its last eight regular-season games since clinching its seventh straight playoff berth on April 3. In that sense, it had been a long wait to get to the playoffs 鈥� and be healthy, at that 鈥� for the Hurricanes.
Carolina finished with a 45-24 shot advantage.
Elsewhere in the NHL playoffs on Sunday:
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MAPLE LEAFS 6 SENATORS 2
TORONTO (AP) 鈥� Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists as Toronto beat Ottawa 6-2 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
William Nylander and John Tavares each had a goal and an assist, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies also scored for Toronto. Auston Matthews added two assists and Anthony Stolarz stopped 31 shots.
Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig scored for Ottawa, and Linus Ullmark finished with 18 saves.
The best-of-seven matchup continues Tuesday with Game 2 at Scotiabank Arena before shifting to Ottawa for two games.
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GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4 WILD 2
LAS VEGAS (AP) 鈥� Brett Howden scored two goals, and the Vegas Golden Knights opened their first-round Western Conference playoffs series with a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild.
Tomas Hertl had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights, Pavel Dorofeyev also scored, and Adin Hill made 18 saves.
Matt Boldy scored both Wild goals, Kirill Kaprizov assisted on both and Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
The Associated Press
