RAILY, N.C. — Jordan Martinok and Frederick Andersen played with the steady veteran serene that comes only through the game after the game of postseason strength.
That’s a big reason why the Carolina Hurricanes are holding a 2-0 lead again in the playoff series.
Martinoke saw the opening and was struck by a chance to unleash for what had been transformed into a short-handed goal for the second term Goerard. Andersen grew up on the net all night, putting them on the forefront of a 3-1 victory against the New Jersey Devils in Game 2 of the first round series on Tuesday.
This victory improved Carolina to 11-0 when playing to the 2006 Stanley Cup to get a chance to win a 2-0 series lead.
Shayne Gostisbehere also scored second for Carolina, but Seth Jarvis scored an empty net breakaway goal in the final minute.
That was enough for the hurricane. The Hurricanes were having a tougher battle with predatory demons than the runaways of Game 1.
Martinok, who supported Jarvis’s sky netter, continues to thrive against the devil in the postseason. Returning to his second victory two years ago, Martinook has four goals and nine assists with at least one point in all seven games against New Jersey.
“I love the playoffs, and it feels like it brings the best out of me,” Martinok said when asked about its success. “I don’t know. But I love the emotions, energy, energy in the game. That’s the most fun time of the year for a reason.”
Andersen was there after that. He stood up for 25 saves and refused to allow the devil to find the back of the net for the last 56 minutes. There are about six minutes left for those that include a large stop of shots by Nathan Bastian.
“You see his attitude,” Carolina coach Rod Brinder Amore said. “You never know if he has a great game or if he wants to go back to. It’s very, very calm. I think the way he plays online is also very calm.”
Jesper Bratt scored the only goal for the Devils, with Jacob Markstrom finishing with 25 saves from New Jersey.
The Hurricanes dominated the series’ opener with Sunday’s 4-1 victory, with coach Sheldon Keefe and his players lamenting that Captain Nico Hisher’s inability to match Carolina’s unrelenting edge in what he described as “simple hockey, hard hockey.”
It didn’t help that New Jersey had Game 1 injured Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon down either. But the Devils got the effort they needed to stay in this one.
“I really liked the game today,” Keefe said. “We showed attitude, competitiveness, and care.”
It started when the Devils pinned Carolina early to Carolina and set up a cleanup of the rebound of the game’s first score at 3:51 of the game.
It also included former Hurricane Brett Pess personally saving two demonic goals with a loose puck against Mark Strom, seconds after Gostis Bear hit on his own rebound to defeat Mark Strom. Plus, Pesse was laid on the finish line behind Markstrom, but then knocked out a not-perfect puck beyond that.
He also cleaned up one with a score near Taylor Hall with a push under Markstrom of traffic.
“We thought we could easily win that game,” Pes said, an ice bag under the shirt on the left shoulder in the locker room. “I think we gave everything we had and it got shorter.”
The winner deserves veteran Martinok on a strong offensive night, and the demons came after lined up for a showdown to begin their power play. Dmitry Orloff collected loose packs and sent the transition pace to Spring Multinoke. Martinok blows up the shot past Markstrom at the second 5:54 mark in order to advance Carolina forever.
“You can’t think of anything good enough to say about that game in particular,” Brind’amour said. “It could have been his most impactful game as a hurricane. …So he was in the entire game for us.”
The series will move north to Newark for Game 3 on Friday night.
