RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Taylor Hall has had the hottest stick in the NHL for the past month, but on Sunday his streak almost came to an end.
Then came overtime.
Hall <a target=”—blank” href=”https://twitter.com/NHL/status/965393194790813696″>came through with the winning goal</a> with 22 seconds left in the extra period, giving the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
The goal extended Hall’s league-best streak of games with a point to 18.
New Jersey had won the first of the teams’ four meetings this season on Thursday night to start the Hurricanes’ three-game losing streak.
“It was a self-starter type of game for us,” New Jersey coach John Hymes said. “It’s on them to find a way to have the motivation to play as hard as we did and they did that. That’s a great sign for us moving forward.”
Keith Kinkaid stopped 40 shots for the Devils.
“I think the fact that this was a 5 o’clock game was pretty understated,” Hall said. “The fact that they’re not on a back to back, we played last night. The flight from Tampa to Carolina is a lot longer than you think. We weren’t a rested group by any means, but you saw the battle level that was there and that’s always good.”
The Devils led 1-0 after a first period in which the Hurricanes outshot them 13-9.
Nico Hischier scored New Jersey’s first goal on a power play midway through the first, assisted by Sami Vatanen and Kinkaid.
The Hurricanes tied it at 6:25 of the second with Teuvo Teravainen scoring from Trevor van Riemsdyk and Victor Rask, who was playing in his 300th NHL game — all with Carolina.
“I thought we had some good looks,” Carolina coach Bill Peters said. “We had the puck plenty. But that was a tough one. We gifted them both of their goals tonight.”
The Devils went back ahead with 4:27 left in the second when Pavel Zacha scored on the assist from John Moore.
Jeff Skinner tied the game in a sixth-attacker situation with 1:18 left in regulation on assists from Brett Pesce and Jaccob Slavin.
Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward had 18 saves.
NOTES: LW Lee Stempniak and D Klas Dahlbeck were healthy scratches for Carolina. … RW Jimmy Hayes and D Will Butcher were healthy extras for New Jersey. … Devils backup goalie Eddie Lack is a former Hurricane. … The teams’ other two meetings are March 2 in Raleigh and March 27 in New Jersey.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host Columbus on Tuesday in the first of a three-game homestand.
Hurricanes: Host Pittsburgh on Friday night.
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