Hurricanes 6, Devils 3
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Chris Terry scored in his NHL debut as part of a three-goal second period and Dan Ellis returned from the flu to stop 31 shots as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the slumping New Jersey Devils 6-3 Saturday night.
The Southeast Division-leading Hurricanes have won five of six and outscored the opposition 20-9 in their last four home wins. Meanwhile, the Devils are 1-6-1 in their last eight but made it interesting with two goals in the opening 4:21 of the third.
Alexander Semin, who has 15 points in his last eight games, had a goal and assist, while Jiri Tlusty notched his 12th goal during Carolina's second-period offensive outburst. Tlusty took the team lead in goals with an empty-netter.
Terry, a fifth-round draft pick by Carolina in 2007, scored 88 goals over his last 3 1/2 seasons in the American Hockey League but has been never been called up to the NHL prior to Saturday. He was able to outmuscle New Jersey defenseman Adam Larsson in the slot and slapped the puck between the legs of Johan Hedberg, who allowed five goals on 18 shots through two periods.
Jeff Frazee made his NHL debut, replacing Hedberg to start the third.
Jeff Skinner added his ninth goal late in the second, a period in which the Canes have now outscored opponents 32-15.
The Canes scored 28 seconds apart in the first period to grab a two-goal lead and never trailed.
Semin was alone in front on the power play after taking a pass from Joe Corvo and faked out Hedberg once before lifting in a backhander. Defenseman Jay Harrison cleared up a Jordan Staal rebound less than a half-minute later on a rush started by Jussi Jokinen for a 2-0 lead.
Carolina was looking to add to its lead with a power play just five seconds after the Harrison goal, but Ilya Kovalchuk blocked a Justin Faulk point shot and was off to the races, breaking in alone on Ellis to bury his ninth career shorthanded goal. The Russian added his second of the night 22 seconds into the third period.
NOTES: Devils captain Bryce Salvador missed his first game of the season with an upper-body injury. ... Kovalchuk's goal in the first period was New Jersey's league-leading seventh short-handed. ... Carolina left winger Chris Terry played in 290 AHL games before making his NHL debut Saturday night. ... Heading into the game, the Hurricanes were one of three teams yet to participate in a shootout. ... This was the first Devils-Canes game since March 2000 without either Martin Brodeur or Cam Ward in net. Brodeur is out with a sore back and Ward is sidelined six to eight weeks with a knee injury. ... Ellis was back in net after missing the last two games with the flu. ... Ellis' assist on Carolina's third goal was the fourth of his career.