National Hockey League
New Jersey 5, Carolina 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 3, 2015
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Referees: Francis Charron, T.J. Luxmore
Linesmen: Darren Gibbs, Tim Nowak
Attendance: 9254

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The New Jersey Devils put on quite a show for their dads.

With players' fathers making the trip with the team, the Devils had one of their most productive outings of the season in a 5-1 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night at PNC Arena.

"It was important for us," left winger Mike Cammalleri said. "It's also special to get a win for the dads."

Cammalleri scored twice and two of his New Jersey Devils teammates scored for the first time this season.

"That was nice," Devils coach John Hynes said. "When you look at tonight, all four of our lines contributed. We're going to have to continue down that path. There was a little bit of edginess to the game, but we like our team toughness."

Cammalleri scored the game's first and final goals. Center Adam Henrique, right winger Stephen Gionta and center Jacob Josefson also scored for the Devils, who had matched their season high for goals.

Goalie Keith Kincaid, playing in only his fifth game of the season, stopped 30 shots for the victory.

The Devils sensed they were in good situations during this game, so that made it imperative that they produce at a good clip.

"There's kind of a sense of urgency that comes with that," Cammalleri said. "Guys played with an edge, team toughness."

Center Brad Malone scored for Carolina (8-13-4), which lost its third game in a row.

"Tough night," Hurricanes center Eric Staal said. "We needed to have a more competitive edge to our game. We didn't bring enough."

Hurricanes goalie Eddie Lack made 22 saves.

New Jersey hadn't reached the four-goal mark in any of their previous seven games, so it was in a groove at times. Cammalleri, who had his first multi-goal game of the season, also provided an assist, while defenseman John Moore provided two assists.

The Devils had won one of previous four games (1-2-1), but they've been good away from home in improving their road record to 8-4-0.

After the Devils grabbed a 4-1 edge late in the second period, Malone was dropped in a fight with New Jersey right winger Jordin Tootoo. So less than two minutes after scoring his second goal of the season, Malone was gone for the next five minutes of playing time.

"It's putting yourself on the line for your teammates," Tootoo said.

It was a long third period with numerous stoppages as the players squared off in a chippy final 20 minutes.

Until then, it had been mostly another quiet night in Carolina's home arena, where the Hurricanes dropped to 4-8-1.

"I think we let each other down as a group," Carolina coach Bill Peters said.

New Jersey held a 4-1 lead through two periods with both Gionta and Josefson notching their first goals of the season. They've each played in all 25 games.

"Jacob does so many nice things for our team," Hynes said. "Good to see him get the monkey off his back."

Cammalleri opened the scoring. He had mostly an open net for his shot from the left side after receiving the pass from center Tyler Kennedy.

Cammalleri notched his first goal in five games, avoiding what would have been his longest stretch of the season without a goal.

The Devils built a 2-0 lead when taking advantage of a double-minor for center Jeff Skinner's high-sticking penalty in the second period. Henrique skated in from the blue line uninterrupted, beating Lack with a shot into the upper-portion of the net.

On Henrique's goal, the Hurricanes were one second shy of killing off half the penalty. Six seconds after the rest of the penalty expired, the Devils struck again when Gionta scored on a wraparound.

Malone put the Hurricanes on the board with a quick shot as he skated toward the slot with 2:24 remaining in the second period. It came on Carolina's 20th shot.

Josefson restored the three-goal lead on a 2-on-1 breakaway with 1:03 to play in the second period.

"We weren't on our toes," Staal said. "They were on us. They were more aggressive."

NOTES: New Jersey RW Jiri Tlusty spent parts of the past six seasons with Carolina, but he missed his sixth consecutive game with an upper-body injury. ... Hurricanes D Ryan Murphy has returned from an injury rehabilitation assignment with Charlotte of the American Hockey League after suffering a concussion. He missed Carolina's last seven games. ... The Hurricanes reassigned D Jaccob Slavin to Charlotte. ... This marked the 90thcareer game for Hurricanes G Eddie Lack, but only his second appearance vs. New Jersey. He lost the previous encounter. ... This was the first of four meetings this season between the teams. ... New Jersey is home against Philadelphia on Friday night. ... This was the first of three home games in four days for the Hurricanes, who meet the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Top Game Performances
 
New Jersey   Carolina
Michael Cammalleri 3 Points Brad Malone 1
Michael Cammalleri 2 Goals Brad Malone 1
Tyler Kennedy 2 Assists Jay McClement 1
Adam Henrique 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Keith Kinkaid .968 Save Percentage Eddie Lack .815
Keith Kinkaid 30 Saves Eddie Lack 22
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
New Jersey 27 5 1-4 2-2 18 24
Carolina 31 1 0-2 3-4 22 49
Upcoming Games
  • Carolina will play their next game at home against Montreal. The Hurricanes have a W/L % of .222 after a win and .375 after a loss.
  • New Jersey will play their next game at home against Philadelphia. The Devils have a W/L % of .462 after a win and .583 after a loss.