Raleigh, N.C. >> Logan Stankoven scored two second-period goals in his first playoff game with Carolina as the Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on Sunday to open their first-round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Jalen Chatfield scored a first-period goal for the Hurricanes, who carried a 3-0 lead late into the second period and kept consistent pressure on Devils netminder Jacob Markstrom. Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net clincher late in the third.

“I love playing in the big games and meaningful hockey. I’m motivated to try to contribute in any way possible,” Stankoven said. “Yeah, it’s always a nice feeling to get on the scoresheet.”

Frederik Andersen finished with 23 saves for Carolina, including a key stop on Timo Meier near the crease midway through the third. The Hurricanes also turned away a Devils power play with about eight minutes left to stay in firm control.

Nico Hischier got New Jersey on the board by taking Jesper Bratt’s cross-ice pass and blasting the puck past Andersen during a 4-on-4 chance.

Markstrom finished with 41 saves on what turned out to be a rough afternoon physically for the Devils, who saw defenseman Brenden Dillon skating to the tunnel in the second period, then fellow blue-liner Luke Hughes and forward Cody Glass skating off after a single chaotic sequence in the third.

It was a quality start for Carolina, which had lost seven of its last eight regular-season games since clinching its seventh straight playoff trip on April 3. In that sense, it had been a long wait to get to the playoffs — and be healthy, at that — for the Hurricanes.

Carolina finished with a 45-24 shot advantage.

Maple Leafs 6, Senators 2 >> Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists as Toronto beat Ottawa in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

William Nylander and John Tavares each had a goal and an assist, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies also scored for Toronto. Auston Matthews added two assists and Anthony Stolarz stopped 31 shots.

Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig scored for Ottawa, and Linus Ullmark finished with 18 saves.

The best-of-seven matchup continues Tuesday with Game 2 at Scotiabank Arena before shifting to Ottawa for two games.

The series opener marked the first playoff Battle of Ontario showdown in exactly 21 years when Toronto bested Ottawa 4-1 in Game 7 on April 20, 2004.

The teams went in opposite directions after that, with Ottawa enjoying a long run of success, including a trip to the 2007 Stanley Cup final, while Toronto made the postseason just once between 2006 and 2016.

The Leafs, who beat the Senators four times in the playoffs across a five-year stretch in the early 2000s, returned to the NHL postseason in 2017 — the last time the Senators made it — with a young core led by Matthews, Marner and Nylander.

The Senators’ rebuild, meanwhile, took a lot longer than expected, but finally gained this season. Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk finally made his playoff debut in his seventh year.

Toronto, which has one series victory in nine tries in the Matthews-Marner era, opened the scoring at 7:09 of the first period when Ekman-Larsson fired past Ullmark’s glove to send the home fans into a frenzy.

Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson cleared a puck off his goal line later in the period, but Marner took a stretch pass from Matthews moments later and roofed a shot with 7:42 left for a 2-0 lead.

Ottawa got on the board exactly four minutes later when Batherson was fastest to a rebound Stolarz was unable to smother.

The Maple Leafs goalie stopped Tkachuk on a breakaway early in the second before Toronto’s power play when to work when Tavares knocked in his own rebound at 4:07 to make it 3-1.