Aho sends Canes into second round with 5-4 double overtime winner

Sebastian Aho's second power play goal of the night, 4:17 into the second overtime, punched the Canes' ticket to the second round and capped off a huge comeback in a 5-4 win over the New Jersey Devils. Jersey led 3-0 after the first 10 minutes as the Canes were playing in quicksand from the start. But, Carolina needed just 5:40 of the second period to draw even. Goals from Taylor Hall, Jackson Blake and Andrei Svechnikov made it a brand new game. The Canes would trail again, as Devils star Nico Hischier would score his 4th goal of the series, but Aho's first power play goal of the night leveled the game again. From there, Carolina did everything but score as they peppered New Jersey goaltender Jacob Markstrom over the final 44:17, out-shooting the Devils 34-12 with the last shot being Aho's second power play goal of the night. Aho led Carolina with 8 points in the series and now has 30 goals and 78 points in 79 career playoff games. Pyotr Kochetkov survived a disastrous opening frame as a starter for the first time in the playoffs. Carolina awaits the winner of the series between the Capitals and Canadiens. Notes: Aho is the first Hurricanes player to have 2 series-ending overtime game-winning goals. His goal eliminated the Nashville Predators in the opening round in 2021 before tonight. And, the Hurricanes are into the second round of the playoffs for the fifth straight year. The only team in the NHL that can say that.