Devils Back in Series; Simon Nemec Stuns Hurricanes in Double Overtime

NEWARK–The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes played the longest game in Prudential Center history, and it was decided by the youngest player on the ice.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe felt good about the Devils coming home for Game 3 after their improved effort on Tuesday despite a loss. Getting Jonas Siegenthaler back on the blue certainly enhanced any confidence the Devils had coming into Friday night.

Similarly to their start in Game 2, the Devils had the Hurricanes on their heels early. New Jersey was shot out of a cannon, and pressured Carolina goaltender Frederick Anderson with five shots, as opposed to the Hurricanes’ goose egg, in the first five minutes of the game.

Not only was the offensive pressure high, but the Devils’ forecheck suffocated the Hurricanes with a heavy, physical presence.

After the Devils killed off a Dougie Hamilton tripping minor, they took the momentum back as the result of a strong penalty kill. The Devils continued to dominate the possession in the offensive end of the ice, controlling the play in the neutral and largely kept the puck out of their end of the ice.

The Devils eventually broke the scoreless tie when Timo Meier fed a streaking Nico Hischier in the slot from the right wall. The New Jersey captain scored on the semi-breakaway and the Devils took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

Johnathan Kovacevic remained in New Jersey’s locker room at the start of the second period and ultimately didn’t return to the game. The Devils were, once again, shorthanded on the blueline.

This time, it was the Hurricanes who had a hot start, outshooting the Devils 5-0 through the first five minutes of the middle frame. Carolina forced Jacob Markstrom to be strong early, especially while shorthanded after Siegenthaler served a hooking minor penalty.

The Devils were able to kill the infraction and return to even strength, where they’d even the ice at 5-on-5.

New Jersey then gained two man advantages through the remainder of the second period. First, when Dmitry Orlov was called for interference against Brian Dumoulin at the 8:31 mark, then at the 16:10 mark when Jordan Martinook tripped Erik Haula.

Yet, the Hurricanes killed off both Devils power plays, and regained the momentum near the tail end of the middle frame.

Despite Carolina carrying the momentum, Markstrom maintained the Devils’ 1-0 lead heading into the second intermission.

As quickly as the puck dropped for the third period, the Devils doubled their lead.

Jesper Bratt made a fantastic play, cutting from the left circle to the crease with the puck on his stick, creating a rebound at the top of Andersen’s crease. Amid a bit of chaos, Mercer slid the loose puck over the Carolina goal line to give the Devils a 2-0 lead 1:20 into the third period.

Siegenthaler took his second infraction of the game, called for interference against Martinook, and sent the Hurricanes back to the power play.

Seth Jarvis made the Devils pay, and cut New Jersey’s lead to 2-1 6:11 into the third period.

Carolina quickly went back on the attack in the Devils’ end of the ice. An exhausted group of New Jersey skaters couldn’t clear the puck from danger, and Brett Pesce ultimately took a delay of game penalty when he sent the puck over the glass.

For the second time in as many attempts in the final frame, the Hurricanes converted on the power play to knot the game at two on the stick of Sebastian Aho.

Regulation ended, and the Metropolitan Division rivals required overtime to determine a winner.

New Jersey went to two power plays in extra time, however, the Devils failed to register a single shot on the first advantage and couldn’t convert on the second. They went 0-for-5 on the power play and are 0-for-10 in the series on the man advantage.

When one overtime wasn’t enough, the Devils and Hurricanes required a second

Simon Nemec had a strong game through both regulation and extra time. In the second overtime, the 21-year-old defenseman carried the puck from the neutral zone to the offensive zone and put himself in scoring position in the right circle, and scored the game-winning goal to cut the Hurricanes’ series lead to 2-1.

Markstrom made 27 saves on 29 shots, collecting his first playoff win in 2025.

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