Canes 6, Devils 3

Chris Terry, playing in his first NHL game, scored his first NHL goal as the Canes took a 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils at PNC Arena.

Jiri Tlusty scored twice and had an assist for the Canes (14-9-1). Alex Semin had a goal and two assists, and Eric Staal two assists as the Hurricanes' big line continued to pile up points. Not to be forgotten: Dan Ellis had a big part in the win with 31 saves in net.

Bu everyone was talking about Terry's goal, his moment, after his NHL debut.

"It was a pretty special moment," Terry said. "The first shift was nice. Big crowd and lot of excitement. I got my legs under me and was fortunate enough to find the back of the net.

"It was kind of a blur for me after I scored. I didn't know what to do. But it was definitely an exciting moment."

The Canes led 2-1 after the first on a power-play goal by Semin and then even-strength goal from Jay Harrison, then scored three times in the second.

Tlusty made it 3-1 at 4:42 of the second, scoring off the rush on a perfect pass from Semin, then Terry struck.

Terry whacked the puck away from defenseman Adam Larsson in front of the net, took a shot, then stuffed the puck past fallen goalie Johan Hedberg at 11:09. Terry was recalled Friday from the Charlotte Checkers (AHL).

Terry became the first Canes player to score in his NHL debut since Brad Fast on April 4, 2004, against Florida.

Jeff Skinner made it 5-1 late in the second. After a shot off the post, Skinner and the Canes kept the puck in the zone and Skinner reached out to tip the puck past Hedberg for his ninth of the season.

Hedberg was lifted for Jeff Frazee after the second and the Devils made a big push early in the third. Ilya Kovalchuk, who scored a shorthanded goal in the first, scored 22 second into the final period and Patrik Elias then scored on a top to pull New Jersey within 5-3 at 4:21 of the third.

Canes coach Kirk Muller used his timeout at that point.

"We've got a lot of young guys and we're playing a team that just came off the Stanley Cup finals (last season)," Muller said. "They came after us with a playoff mentality and we just said, 'Hey, this is a learning experience again.' We said, 'Settle down, let's go back to playing our game and increase the tempo.'

"After that I thought we calmed down and got playing again and pulled it off for a big win."

With a little less than seven minutes left in regulation, Ellis made a lunging stop of a shot by former Hurricanes forward Tom Kostopoulos.

Semin and Jay Harrison scored goals 28 seconds apart for the Canes in the first period. but Kovalchuk answered with a shorthanded goal for the Devils.

Semin scored a power-play goal at 12:16 of the first after a pass from Joe Corvo long the left boards. Semin made a quick deke and knocked a backhander past Hedberg for his seventh of the season.

Just 28 seconds later it was 2-0, Canes. On a rush into the Devils zone, Jordan Staal put a shot on net that Hedberg stopped, the puck bouncing into the slot. Jeff Skinner got a piece of the puck with a skate and an onrushing Harrison rammed it in for his fourth goal of the season.

The Canes soon were on the power play again after Patrik Elias high-sticked Semin at center ice. The Canes' Justin Faulk was open on a backdoor play but fanned on the puck, then later had a shot from the point blocked by Kovalchuk.

Kovalchuk was off on a breakaway and ripped a shot by Dan Ellis' glove for the shorthanded score -- the Devils' league-best seventh of the season and Kovalchuk's third shorty of the season.

Faulk ended a rough first period by taking a tripping penalty at 17:01 but the Canes were able to kill it off.

It's the first time since March 2000 that neither the Canes' Cam Ward nor the Devils' Martin Brodeur have been in goal for a Carolina-New Jersey game.

Ellis had 11 saves in the opening period and 22 stops through two periods.