By BOB SUTTON

Associated Press

RALEIGH (AP) — Antti Raanta made 24 saves in his first action in nearly a month as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Saturday night.

Jordan Martinook and Andrei Svechnikov scored in the first period to help the Hurricanes win their third straight and sixth in the last seven.

Raanta played for the first time since Jan. 1 due to an upper body injury. This was his first full game since Dec. 30, with three other goalies making starts for Carolina since then.

Jesper Boqvist scored for the Devils, who’ve lost seven of their last eight games. The lone victory in that stretch came last Saturday against Carolina. Jon Gillies stopped 21 shots for New Jersey.

Raanta made a key save on Nathan Bastian’s short-handed breakaway in the final seconds of the second period. The Devils then posted only three shots on goal in the third period.

Martinook, who has been out for most of the past eight weeks, scored for the first time since the season opener. His goal came on a back-handed shot at 8:02 of the first after Seth Jarvis delivered a pass from behind the net.
Svechnikov produced his goal with 5:38 left in the period by taking the puck to the crease, where Gillies wasn’t able to gain control and it ended up in the net.

Boqvist made it 2-1 with 3:34 remaining in the opening period with his first goal of the season.

The Hurricanes also scored the first two goals last Saturday at New Jersey. The Devils responded to win that game 7-4.

OUT AGAIN

Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen, fourth on the team with 32 points, was scratched for the second time in four games. The listed reason was illness after he missed a game for the first time this season a week earlier at New Jersey because of an injury.

Defenseman Dougie Hamilton remained out of New Jersey’s lineup because of a broken jaw suffered in the first game of the month. He played the past three seasons with Carolina and he received a hearty ovation during a first-period introduction.

HOMAGE TO THE WHALERS

The Hurricanes wore Hartford Whalers jerseys on a night dedicated to recognizing the franchise’s past. It marked the sixth time since the relocation to Raleigh that the Hurricanes wore Whalers jerseys. They’re 4-0-2 in those games.

UP NEXT

Devils: At Toronto on Monday night.

Hurricanes: Host San Jose on Sunday night.