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.

The New Jersey Devils had the top special teams units in the NHL this season. Things haven’t worked out so well in the playoffs, and they are now one loss away from elimination.

Game 4 between the Devils and Hurricanes took an unexpected turn early in the second period Sunday when Carolina had to make a goalie change.