The Carolina Hurricanes became the first team in the 2023 playoffs to book their berth in the Conference Finals. They cruised past the New Jersey Devils with a 3-2 win in overtime in the East second round on Thursday, winning the series 4-1.
Jasper Fast was the hero for the Hurricanes in overtime. He slotted the puck back into the net from a deflection off Jasperi Kotkaniemi for a powerplay-winning goal. The Hurricanes are now among the heavy favorites to lift the coveted cup.
Soon after punching their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Carolina Hurricanes took a shot at the New Jersey Devils, trolling them with a video of the Jersey Shores cast congratulating them on winning the second round.
Watch the video below:
How did the Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils series play out?
The Carolina Hurricanes entered the 2023 playoffs after clinching the Metropolitan Divison of the Eastern Conference, while the New Jersey Devils were the second-seeded team from the Metro Division.
The Hurricanes outplayed and completely dominated the New Jersey Devils in the series. The Hurricanes had home-ice advantage in the series and started their campaign on a winning note, defeating the Devils resoundingly, 5-1.
Coming into the second game, the Hurricanes continued with the same momentum at home and secured another huge win (6-1) over the Devils.
Game 3 of the series was at the Prudential Center, where the New Jersey Devils made a comeback to beat the Hurricanes 8-4 in front of their home crowd to make it 1-2.
However, the New Jersey Devils could not continue their momentum in the following games. They lost Game 4 by a huge margin of 6-1 to go two games behind in the series.
Coming into Game 5, the New Jersey Devils failed to mount a comeback and were eliminated from the second round following a 3-2 loss. Jasper Fast scored the winning goal 7:09 into overtime to book his team's place om the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Hurricanes can now sit back and keep a close eye on the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs series. The Panthers lead the Maple Leafs 3-1, and the winner will face the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals.