RALEIGH, N.C. — The Devils got an up-close look at how good the Carolina Hurricanes are.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a goal and two assists and the Carolina Hurricanes closed a record-setting regular season with a 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.
The Hurricanes, who clinched the Metropolitan Division title two nights earlier, added to their franchise records for wins (54) and points (116) in a season.
“That’s a grind,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “To do it the way our group did it, I think is pretty special. … That’s a pretty darn good record and we did it the right way.”
Ethan Bear, Martin Necas, Teuvo Teravainen, Steven Lorentz and Jordan Martinook also scored for the Hurricanes, who will carry a six-game winning streak into the playoffs.
“You can see why they’re in the playoffs,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “Their puck play, they’re strong on pucks. That’s a team that you can use as an example of how hard you’ve got to skate and how hard you’ve got to play.”
Carolina goalie Antti Raanta made 27 saves and improved to 7-0-1 all-time against New Jersey.
“All eyes ahead,” Martinook said. “It’s going to be about us getting ready and start the next journey.”
“We’re kind of taking the steps in the right direction,” Lorentz said. “I think we have another step to take come playoff time.”
The Hurricanes scored four or more goals in eight of their last 10 games.
Fabian Zetterlund, Jesper Bratt and Jimmy Vesey scored for the Devils, who are 0-3-2 in their last five games with one game remaining. Pavel Zacha had two assists and Andrew Hammond stopped 30 shots.
Martinook’s forechecking disrupted New Jersey’s transition out of its defensive zone and Bear was rewarded with the goal in just his seventh game in a month’s span to open the scoring.
Necas and Kotkaniemi added goals in the game’s first 13 minutes. Combined with assists on the game’s first two goals, Kotkaniemi secured his first three-point outing in his 237th career game and became the only Carolina player this season with a three-point period.
Kotkaniemi was back on the ice after missing the last five games, playing just twice since late March because of injuries.
“At the beginning when they had the 3-0 lead, you can’t give up that,” Zetterlund said. “It’s too easy (for them). … We kind of know they’re going to go out aggressive.”
Zetterlund’s second goal of his career came 62 seconds after New Jersey fell into the 3-0 hole. Bratt’s third-period goal gave him a share of the team lead with 26.
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