RALEIGH, N.C. _ Rod Brind'Amour bounced up and down on his toes during the national anthem, smacking on his gum, showing off some nervous energy.
High above PNC Arena, Dougie Hamilton had rolled out on his scooter, sounding the warning siren, showing some stamina.
In short, there were all the earmarks of an important game Friday as the Carolina Hurricanes faced the New Jersey Devils. Crunch time has come early for the Canes, who entered the game four points out of playoff position but responded with a solid 5-2 victory.
Nino Niederreiter and Warren Foegele scored for the Canes in the opening period, and Martin Necas and defenseman Joel Edmundson scored in the third. But the play that really had the sellout crowd buzzing came in the second. It also came from the top line of Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov.
In a perfectly executed sequence, Svechnikov carried the puck up the left wing into the Devils zone, dropping off a pass to Aho. The center zipped a cross-ice pass to Teravainen, who then found Svechnikov open in front of the crease for his 23rd of the season.
Canes goalie Petr Mrazek, on his 28th birthday, got the work done in net. Mrazek, who had lost his last three games, earned his 19th win and the first since Jan. 17 against Winnipeg, allowing goals to Mirco Mueller and Joey Anderson but also making some high-quality stops.
The Devils had a 5-on-3 power play late in the third, but Mrazek made a scrambling stop on a Jack Hughes shot as the Canes killed both penalties.
Four points out of wild-card playoff position in the Eastern Conference, the Canes (33-21-3) needed to beat the Devils (21-26-10), who are having a lost season but playing some of their best hockey of the season. New Jersey was 4-1-3 in its last eight games before Friday, beating the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1, on Thursday in Newark, N.J.
The Canes were back on home ice after a four-game road trip that produced mixed results _ close wins over Arizona and Vegas and decisive losses to St. Louis and then Dallas in the final game. They also were facing a Metropolitan Division team _ Carolina was 5-10-1 in the Metro before Friday including a 5-3 loss to the Devils at PNC Arena.
Brind'Amour wanted a better start and the Canes coach got what he wanted: a first-period goal by Niederreiter. For the first time in seven games, Carolina had scored the first goal of the game, Niederreiter taking a pass from Haydn Fleury and unloading a heavy shot from the right point while covering for defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk.
Foegele's goal, his first in 13 games, came after defenseman Brett Pesce got off a shot from the point. Foegele collected the puck in front of goalie Louis Domingue and smacked it in for his 11th of the season.
Necas' goal, the 15th of the season for the rookie forward, came on a redirection, the puck being swatted past Domingue by Devils defenseman Damon Severson. Edmundson scored after the Canes had killed off his penalty.
The Canes still are adjusting to playing without Hamilton. The versatile defenseman missed his 10th game since fracturing his left fibula, but had the crowd roaring before the game when he came out to sound the siren and gave it a good, hard crank.
Hamilton was all smiles. So were the Canes much of the game.
