Takeaways: Hurricanes solve locked-in Markstrom, Golden Knights’ Eichel bounces back
Eleven days into the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, we have our first handshake line. Ryan Dixon dissects nine periods of hockey between the Devils and Hurricanes and the Golden Knights and Wild.
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Eleven days into the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, we have our first handshake line.
The Carolina Hurricanes eliminated the New Jersey Devils with a wild 5-4 double-overtime victory — the second double-OT game of the series — on home ice on Tuesday night. The five-game win sends Carolina through to Round 2, marking the fifth straight spring the Canes have made it at least that far.
The Devils — and, specifically, goalie Jacob Markstrom — certainly made Carolina work for it, but captain Sebastian Aho scored his second of the contest on a power play 4:17 into the game’s fifth period.
Meanwhile, in Vegas, the script writers seemed like they were really going for it as Marc-Andre Fleury replaced Minnesota Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson when the latter left Game 5 after two periods due to an illness. As it turned out, though, Brett Howden played the role of hero, one-timing home an overtime winner — his third tally of the playoffs — that gave the Golden Knights a 3-2 win and the same series advantage after claiming consecutive extra-time contests in Games 4 and 5.
There are nine periods of hockey to dissect here, so let’s get right to it.
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From goalfest to drought in Raleigh
The Devils came ready to fight for their lives, scoring three goals before the game was 10 minutes old. However, the Canes swung right back, erasing that 3-0 deficit with three tallies of their own in the first 5:40 of the second period.
The teams combined for eight goals 31:27 of play, then stopped scoring. In fact, there was 52:50 — almost a full 60 minutes — of play between the time Aho tied the game 4-4 in the second period and the moment he ended it in the second overtime frame.
Markstrom shines
The play of Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom is the only reason this game had such a protracted stretch without a goal. After allowing four goals on the first 15 shots he faced, Markstrom slammed the door shut.
The big guy made an unbelievable save in the dying moment of regulation time, extending his right pad to take a sure goal away from Logan Stankoven. In the first overtime, he made three or four great saves and one or two absolute showstoppers, including a trapper save on a point-blank rifle by Jackson Blake.
In all, Markstorm made 33 straight saves between Aho’s equalizer and the eventual game-winner.
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Stud Svech
After scoring a hat trick (with No. 3 going into an empty net) in Carolina’s Game 4 win, Andrei Svechnikov struck again in Game 5. The Russian sniper ripped a shot home from the high slot and the goal blew the roof off Lenovo Center because it completed Carolina’s mini comeback from the 3-0 deficit.
With five goals, Svechnikov is now tied for the playoff goals lead. Last year, in 11 playoff outings, Svechnikov had two tallies. It seems like the Canes are perpetually in search of more goals this time of year, so it would be a huge development to see one of their go-to guys go off.
Devil of a season
It’s hard to get a real read on where the Devils are at after one year under coach Sheldon Keefe because the team was, once again, hit hard by injuries. New Jersey’s top offensive centre, Jack Hughes, saw his season end in early March with shoulder surgery; Markstrom sustained an MCL sprain in January; both members of the team’s top pair — Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler — missed substantial time. Heck, in the final game versus Carolina, Jersey’s blueline was down Luke Hughes, Brenden Dillon and Johnathan Kovacevic.
There’s some real talent on this squad and Markstrom showed he’s still got game at age 35. If they stay healthy, Year 2 under Keefe could be one that extends past the first round.
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Eichel dishing in the desert
Jack Eichel entered Game 5 with just a single assist in the series and a fairly gruesome minus-7 rating. He came to play in this swing game, though, setting up Vegas’ two regulation-time goals in wonderful fashion.
First, with his team killing a penalty in the first period, Eichel made a great play to pick a Kirill Kaprizov pass in the high slot. Eichel then shot down the ice, let three Wild defenders drift his way, then slipped a perfect pass to William Karlsson the latter one-timed home for a shorty that opened the scoring.
Then, with the score tied 1-1 later in the first, Eichel intercepted another pass in the neutral zone. He carried the puck into the offensive zone and shimmied away from a few Wild checkers in the corner. With winger Mark Stone arriving on the scene, Eichel slid a pass to the blueline Stone walked into and absolutely wired to restore Vegas’ lead.
Knights coach Bruce Cassidy changed up his top line in Game 4, moving centre William Karlsson up to play wing with Eichel and Stone. All three were all over the gamesheet in Game 5, indicating Cassidy may have struck gold with the trio.
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Double Review
The only reason we had overtime drama was because a Minnesota goal was wiped off the board late in the third after not one, but two video reviews. Initially, after Ryan Hartman charged on goal and snuck a puck past Adin Hill, the officials took a second look to make sure he did not use a kicking motion to direct the puck into the cage.
He did not.
However, Vegas was able to get a longer look at the play and challenged for an offside entry. That’s when the officials put the headsets back on and determined Gustav Nyquist had a skate over the blue before Hartman crossed the line.
No goal and no happy ending for Fleury in a surprise appearance versus his old team.
Boldy a beast
While it ultimately came in a losing cause, Matt Boldy’s game-tying goal 3:31 into the third period was something to behold. The big Wild winger made a power move past veteran defenceman Alex Pietrangelo and — shooting back against his momentum — roofed a puck over the glove of Hill.
The tally was Boldy’s fifth of the playoffs, tied for the league lead with Kaprizov, Svechnikov and Nathan MacKinnon. For a player who had one goal in 12 career playoff games coming into this series, this feels like a second-season breakout.
The Wild will need Boldy and everyone else on the club to be at their best when they fight for their playoff lives on home ice in Game 6 on Thursday.
