On Friday night, the New Jersey Devils returned to the Prudential Center for Game 3 – their first home playoff game in 716 days. The Carolina Hurricanes put up a good fight, but the Devils gutted out a dramatic double overtime victory to cut their series deficit in half (2-1). Simon Nemec, who was a scratch in Game 1, became a hero with the winner. It was the longest game in Prudential Center history.
The fans were certainly energized at puck drop, and the Devils responded. They kept their foot on the gas for the entire first period and finally got rewarded with a Nico Hischier goal off a picture-perfect feed from Timo Meier. After the horn sounded, Stefan Noesen shot a puck through Frederik Andersen and chaos ensued as the Canes took major exception. Things eventually calmed down and both sides headed to their respective locker rooms with the score still 1-0.
The second period saw some nail-biting hockey as both teams locked it down defensively. Johnathan Kovacevic left with an undisclosed injury and did not return. After a wild scramble, it looked like the Devils were about to make it 2-0 but Andersen robbed Meier with his glove. Nonetheless, the Devils were able to gut it out down a man and get back to the locker room with their one goal lead.
Just over a minute into the third, the Devils got a huge insurance goal as Dawson Mercer poked one through. But go figure: the Canes wouldn’t go down easily, as Seth Jarvis scored a power play goal a few minutes later to make it 2-1. With around eight minutes left, they came oh-so-close to tying it as they had the Devils hemmed in their own zone for a good while. The sequence ended with Brett Pesce shooting the puck over the glass for delay of game. Seconds into the man advantage, Sebastian Aho scored off a wild scramble to knot it up. That’s where the score remained – deadlocked at two – as they headed to overtime.
Both teams had a multitude of chances but couldn’t convert; both Andersen and Markstrom stood on their heads to send it to a second overtime. Just as the clock was approaching midnight, Simon Nemec activated in the offensive zone and squeaked one through Andersen to win it, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
NEMO-T HERO pic.twitter.com/N0uCEy0mwo
— x – New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) April 26, 2025
“I learned a lot about the character of our team,” said head coach Sheldon Keefe. Hischier told The Hockey Writers that he had never been more tired after a game. Nemec said, “It was f–,” before pausing and laughing: “Amazing.”
Brian Dumoulin played 36:29 and was a plus-3. Brett Pesce played 32:25 despite being “way less than 100%,” according to Keefe. Siegenthaler, in his return from injury, played 27:09 despite initially being told his minutes would be limited. You could probably count on one hand the number of better team wins the Devils have had in their history, if this doesn’t take the cake.
The Devils will look to even the series in Game 4 at the Prudential Center, Sunday at 3:30 PM EDT. It’s expected to be sold out.
