– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEWARK, NEW JERSEY — As the game clock ticked above 80 minutes and the actual clock approached midnight, New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe stood behind an exhausted group of players and exhorted his team for more, a necessary edict in the midst of their predicament of desperation. Maybe it was fitting that the youngest player sitting on that bench, one who knew nothing about Stanley Cup Playoffs hockey as recently as Tuesday afternoon, would be the hero New Jersey needed as Simon Nemec etched his name into Devils’ playoff lore and brought the team new life in its playoff series.
The 20-year-old Nemec fired home the game-winning goal on a wrist shot 2:36 into the second overtime as the Devils outlasted the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 inside Prudential Center on Friday night to close their series deficit to two games to one. Nico Hischier scored in the first period while Dawson Mercer tallied early in the third for New Jersey, while Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves and kept New Jersey alive late in the game with key stops after it had blown that two-goal deficit in the third.
Nemec, the No. 2 overall selection in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, played in his first NHL playoff in Tuesday’s loss by the Devils in Raleigh, yet was thrust into the pressure cooker of sudden death overtime as he and rest of his fourth-line teammates he was playing on, centered by Justin Dowling, saw key minutes on the ice as the Devils were in desperate need to roll four lines — especially after one of New Jersey’s defensemen, Jonathan Kovacevic, went out with an undisclosed injury after the first period. Nemec latched onto a loose puck on the right wing boards in the neutral zone before speeding towards the top of the circle and firing a wrist shot that squeezed past Hurricanes’ goalkeeper Frederik Andersen and bounced into the net to end the marathon affair.
After being outclassed in Game 1 and losing momentum after a good start in Game 2, the Devils’ once again converted a good start into an early lead, but as the game tightened and then eventually was tied, Keefe was in a position that he hadn’t been in yet in his first season as New Jersey head coach: having to figure out how his team would respond deep into an overtime game in a must-win situation.
At least with this first test, Keefe’s charges passed with flying colors, and, afterward, found a deeper appreciation for the team he has that’s now one win away on Sunday from tying the series.
Carolina’s heavy style of hockey finally tolled in the third period after it was held without a shot on goal in the game’s first nine minutes. A couple of penalties in the third by the Devils led to two power play goals for the Hurricanes that tied the game, with the first goal coming from Seth Jarvis at 6:11 after an interference penalty on New Jersey defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, playing in his first game since early February.
The Hurricanes once again tilted the ice on a shift midway through the third, which eventually led to former Carolina player Brett Pesce sending the puck over the glass in his defensive zone and incurring a delay of game penalty. Just 12 seconds later, Sebastian Aho’s wrist shot at the 12:20 mark tied the game.
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