-- Carolina and New Jersey have quickly become rivals in the Eastern Conference.
Rod Brind'Amour scored short-handed less than six minutes in and Kevin Weekes stopped 26 shots as the Hurricanes beat the Devils 3-1 Saturday night.
There were a combined 78 penalty minutes in the third period against two teams that met in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs each of the past two seasons.
"They were kings of the Eastern Conference for how many years?" said Weekes, whose 1-0 victory in Game 6 knocked the Devils from the postseason. "And they still are one of the top, elite teams in our conference. That's something they don't want to lose or take lightly.
"Having played them in the playoffs will serve as a motivating factor when they get to play against us. It's good for us, too."
New Jersey failed to start 4-0 for the first time since 1993-94, going 1-for-7 on the power play to run its NHL-worst mark with the man advantage to 2-for-28.
"That's a pretty good game when there is a little bit of anger there," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said, calling it one of the more intense October games he has ever coached.
"They just didn't walk away and say, 'A tough night against the Hurricanes, no big deal.' It's nice that there's more on the line. It makes for better hockey and you always want to be a part of the bigger games."
Weekes, who has started the past three games for the slumping Arturs Irbe, came within 52.3 seconds of getting his ninth career shutout and first in the regular season for Carolina since being acquired from Tampa Bay last March. But Brian Gionta scored on a rebound in the final minute to spoil the bid.
"There's no sense in swimming 95 percent across the Atlantic Ocean and then getting close to the shore line and say, 'Forget it,'" Weekes said when asked about allowing a late goal. "I wanted it more for our team because our guys played so well."
Weekes became an instant hero last season when he beat the Devils to clinch Carolina's first-round playoff series en route to the Eastern Conference championship.
He got another nice ovation after being selected the game's No. 1 star.
"He continues to be so big in the net," Maurice said. "I'm very excited, but I'm not surprised."
Maurice stopped short of saying Weekes is now the team's No. 1 goalie.
"We need both guys all year," Maurice said. "Right now Kevin has the ball and he's doing a heck of a job for us."
Carolina managed just 11 shots through the first 47 minutes, but Jeff O'Neill's first of the season with 9:20 left helped seal it.
Ron Francis then scored 41 seconds into a two-man advantage less than two minutes later off a pass from O'Neill after several New Jersey players lost their cool. One was Scott Gomez, who received a 10-minute misconduct and game misconduct with 8:44 remaining.
Carolina had scored one goal in four of five games before scoring three different ways Saturday night.
"We look at this like it's a start for us," Francis said. "We know we have to work that hard every night. That's a lot closer to where we were last year. That's a much better team game than we've played in the first five."
New Jersey coach Pat Burns wasn't too pleased with his team's lack of discipline in the third period.
"We played a pretty good game up until that point," Burns said. "I was surprised to see that. It was probably frustration, not being able to score."
Brind'Amour scored his fourth when he tipped in a backhander from Kevyn Adams 5:46 in. The short-handed goal gave a team that had been struggling to score goals a big lift as the Hurricanes carried much of the action in the first 20 minutes.
| SCORING |
PENALTIES |
First Period: 1, Carolina, Rod Brind'Amour 4 (shorthanded) (Kevyn Adams), 5:46.
Second Period: None.
Third Period: 2, Carolina, Jeff O'Neill 1 (Jaroslav Svoboda, Ron Francis), 10:40. 3, Carolina, Ron Francis 3 (Jeff O'Neill, Sean Hill), 12:19. 4, New Jersey, Brian Gionta 1 (power play) (Joe Nieuwendyk), 19:07. |
First Period: E Cole, Car (holding), 4:18; A Zyuzin, NJD (tripping), 7:12.
Second Period: S Hill, Car (hooking), 7:16; - Bench, Car ( too many men,served by C Adams), 12:09; B Hedican, Car (hooking), 19:10; B Gionta, NJD (roughing), 19:41; J Nieuwendyk, NJD (roughing), 19:46; N Wallin, Car (roughing), 19:46.
Third Period: M Brodeur, NJD (slashing), 2:37; E Cole, Car (hooking), 5:53; J Langenbrunner, NJD (hooking), 8:30; R Brind'Amour, Car (goaltender interference), 9:56; C White, NJD(interference), 9:56; S Stevens, NJD (roughing), 10:06; B Battaglia, Car (roughing), 10:06; S Gomez, NJD (roughing, misconduct, game misconduct), 11:10; S Stevens, NJD (kneeing, fighting major), 17:10; B Battaglia, Car (instigating, fighting major, misconduct), 17:10; D Langdon, Car (fighting,major ), 17:15; J Mckenzie, NJD (fighting,major), 17:15; C Adams, Car (interference), 18:11; J Nieuwendyk, NJD(tripping), 19:17.
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Attendance: 15,518.
Referees: Dan Marouelli, Dennis Larue.
Linesmen: Gerard Gauthier, Kevin Collins.
