‘Canes Down Devils to Take First Place in Metropolitan

The New Jersey Devils are learning that a good start to an NHL season doesn’t guarantee a team anything except a few headlines.

Coach Lindy Ruff’s Devils stunned the NHL by winning 19 of their first 23 games. But the applause gave way to concern in New Jersey Tuesday night when the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Devils 4-1 to move ahead of them in the Metropolitan Division.

The Devils have lost six in a row and seven of their last nine games. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes are in the midst of a 12-game points streak. The ‘Canes have won six games in a row and are 10-0-2 during their streak. Carolina’s win ended the Devils’ 12-game road points streak.

Rookie goalie Pyotr Kochetkov has been at the heart of the Hurricanes’ recent surge. He made 37 saves Tuesday to hold off a Devils team that put considerable pressure on the Hurricanes. Kochetkov has won five games in a row and is 8-0-2 in his past 10 appearances. His personal 10-game point streak ties Cam Ward’s franchise record.

The Russian-born Kochetkov, 23, also boasts three shutouts in his first 18 NHL games. 

With the win over the Devils, the Hurricanes (20-6-6) now own the league’s second-best record behind the Boston Bruins (25-4-2). The Devils (21-9-2) are now fifth.

Carolina’s success this season has come on the strength of one of the NHL’s top defensive groups (led by Jaccob Slavin and Brent Burns) and first-rate goaltending. The Hurricanes’ other strength: they find different ways to win.

The Devils aren’t likely to be going away. They are statistically better than Carolina. The Devils rank fourth in goals-against per game and ninth in scoring average, while the Hurricanes are fifth in goals-against per game and 23rd in scoring average.

💯 Sidney Crosby collects 100 career points against the Rangers. With an assist on Evgeni Malkin's second period goal plus scoring the game-winner himself in the Pens 3-2 win last night, Crosby has officially scored 100 points versus the Rangers, his third highest total against one team (NYI, 128; PHI, 121). For perspective, no other active player has 100 points against a single team.

💨 Calgary Flames set a franchise record for fastest two goals to begin a game. It took all of 30 seconds for the Flames to go up 2-0 versus the San Jose Sharks last night. Tyler Toffoli scored 15 seconds in followed by Dillon Dube 15 seconds later (watch both goals here) and the Flames never looked back, cruising to a 7-3 victory. The previous franchise record was 32 seconds set on March 11, 1987.

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