Markstrom stops 29 shots as Devils down Hurricanes 4-2

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Devils defenseman Luke Hughes had a goal and an assist, Jacob Markstrom made 29 saves and New Jersey defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night.

Ondrej Palat, Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer also scored for New Jersey, which has won three straight and six of seven.

Eric Robinson and Brent Burns scored for the Hurricanes, who lost for the third time in four games. Carolina had 31 shots on goal, after the Devils permitted 20 or fewer in each of their previous seven games.

Robinson opened the scoring at 10:03 of the first period by poking the puck past Markstrom, who was coming off consecutive 12-save shutouts.

Palat tied it at 16:14, followed by Hischier’s team-best 18th goal 42 seconds later to put New Jersey ahead 2-1.

Burns tied it for Carolina just 22 seconds into the middle period.

Hughes, the 21-year-old brother of Devils star center Jack Hughes, then scored at 4:15 followed by Mercer at 8:47 to put New Jersey ahead 4-2.

Pyotr Kochetkov made 19 saves for the Hurricanes.

The Devils blanked the New York Rangers 5-0 at home on Monday after defeating Pittsburgh 3-0 last Saturday at Prudential Center.

Carolina lost 5-2 at Nashville on Monday before the holiday break.

Takeaways

Devils: New Jersey is 17-6-1 since a 3-0 loss at Calgary on Nov. 1.

Hurricanes: Allowed four goals for the second consecutive game after giving up three or fewer in their previous six games.

Key moment

Hischier’s goal less than a minute after Palat’s tying goal late in the first gave New Jersey momentum.

Key stat

Markstrom is 19-6-2 in his first season with the Devils.

Up next

The teams complete a home-and-home series Saturday at Carolina.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Allan Kreda, The Associated Press