Kochetkov makes 23 saves in season debut, Hurricanes hold off Devils

Kochetkov makes 23 saves in season debut, Hurricanes hold off Devils

Blake scores 1st NHL goal for Carolina; J. Hughes, Bratt each has 2 points for New Jersey

Devils at Hurricanes | Recap

RALEIGH, N.C. — Pyotr Kochetkov made 23 saves in his season debut, and the Carolina Hurricanes held off the New Jersey Devils 4-2 at Lenovo Center on Tuesday.

Jackson Blake scored his first NHL goal, and Seth Jarvis and Shayne Gostisbehere scored for the Hurricanes (1-1-0).

Jack Hughes had a goal and an assist, and Jesper Bratt had two assists for the Devils (4-2-0). Jacob Markstrom made 29 saves.

Hughes scored off the rush for his first goal of the season to give the Devils a 1-0 lead at 1:16 of the second period. He cut in front of Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns and into the slot before beating Kochetkov on a low wrist shot.

The Hurricanes tied it 1-1 at 10:55. Devils forward Stefan Noesen knocked the puck off Jarvis’ stick as he skated into the slot, but the Carolina forward spun and scored over Markstrom’s glove.

Gostisbehere made it 2-1 with 37 seconds left in the period when he took a pass from Martin Necas above the face-off circles and scored on a wrist shot under the crossbar.

Blake deflected Dmitry Orlov’s wrist shot for his first NHL goal to make it 3-1 at 10:16 of the third period. Blake, the son of former NHL player Jason Blake, was selected in the fourth round (No. 109) in the 2021 NHL Draft. Orlov earned his 300th NHL point.

Nico Hischier roofted a shot near the right post on a 5-on-3 power play to make it 3-2 at 15:16.

Sebastian Aho scored an empty-net goal with 1:36 remaining for the 4-2 final.