NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A revived Ilya Kovalchuk scored his 20th goal of the season and sixth in seven games and the New Jersey Devils took another step in their unlikely playoff push with a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night.
Brian Rolston and Patrik Elias blew the game open with goals early in the third period as the Devils won for the 13th time in 16 games and moved within 12 points of eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Johan Hedberg made 25 saves for New Jersey, which was 27 points below the postseason cutoff line heading into its game against Tampa Bay on Jan. 9. The Devils are 13th in the East.
Sergei Samsonov scored for eighth-place Carolina, which opened and closed its five-game road trip (1-3-1) with losses at New Jersey. Tuomo Ruutu scored with 2.8 seconds to play to make it 3-2.
