Despite the Devils spending more time in their offensive zone in the second half of the game, the Hurricanes’ hyper-skilled defense rarely bent. The Devils ran out of time, even before Martinook’s goal, and Svechnikov ended the game with an empty net goal with 3:17 left to also secure a hat-trick.

Andrei Svechnikov scored three goals and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Devils 5-2 on Sunday to take a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

In the end, the lead the Devils spotted to the Carolina Hurricanes early in the game was an insurmountable deficit. The Devils’ comeback in Game 4 fell just short after chipping away at the Hurricanes’ 3-0 lead.