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 were without defensemen Luke Hughes, Brenden Dillon and Johnathan Kovacevic on Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series. Hughes and Dillon each missed his third straight game after suffering injuries in the series opener.

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.