Stankoven strikes twice in playoff debut with Carolina as Hurricanes beat Devils

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Stankoven strikes twice in playoff debut with Carolina as Hurricanes beat Devils

2025-04-21 07:54 Last Updated At：08:01

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Logan Stankoven provided an immediate jolt in his first playoff game with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The 22-year-old forward scored twice in the second period Sunday to help the Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 in the opener of their first-round playoff series. It was part of a strong debut that included his work on the Hurricanes' top defensive forward line with captain Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook.

“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.”

Stankoven's play was part of a strong top-to-bottom start for the Hurricanes in their seventh straight trip to the playoffs. And it offered an example of why he was the primary return in a trade-deadline deal that allowed Carolina to pivot out of its big-swing January addition of scoring winger Mikko Rantanen.

“He's got a little more skill than me and Marty, and obviously he can put the puck in the net," Staal said. "He's a good little player obviously: finds holes, he's got good speed, and he can shoot the puck. So he's just getting warmed up.”

The 5-foot-8, 165-pound Stankoven had five goals and four assists in 19 regular-season games with Carolina, with coach Rod Brind'Amour tinkering with the line groupings to find Stankoven's best fit. That eventually led to Stankoven playing alongside the 6-4, 220-pound Staal and the 6-1, 208-pound Martinook more as the Hurricanes closed the regular season, even as they lost seven of eight after clinching their playoff spot on April 3 while resting key guys with the goal of being healthy for the postseason.

“It worked tonight," Brind'Amour said. "But you're right, it's a safety net for players to play with two guys that do it the right way every shift — or at least certainly try to. there's a lot of comfort there I think for any player that gets to play with guys like that.”

Stankoven's first goal offered an example of the fit, coming when Martinook pushed up ice on the right side and tried to send a backhand feed across the ice back toward the crease. Devils center Nico Hischier knocked it down, but Martinook stayed on the forecheck and forced Hischier into a turnover behind the goal.

Martinook then slipped the puck to a trailing Stankoven, who sent the puck past Jacob Markstrom for a 2-0 lead. Stankoven slid to a stop as he bumped into Staal, the linemates facing each other as they raised both arms in victory before embracing with Martinook skating over to join them.

“I mean, I think they've got skill, too,” Stankoven said with a smile of his linemates. “It's nice having a couple of big bodies on my line. They do such a good job of creating space for me, and I think we can thrive down low.”

Minutes later, Stankoven provided a needed punch to a power play. Fellow new addition Taylor Hall whipped a cross-ice pass to the right side to Stankoven, who had a clean lane from the faceoff dot with Markstrom. Stankoven whipped a rising shot past Markstrom's right shoulder, the puck pinging off the inside of the left post and into the net for a 3-0 lead.

“I'm just trying to adapt to those players and be in the right spots to get pucks off," Stankoven said. "Like you said, it takes a bit of time at first, but I think I've been adjusting pretty well. The guys have done a good job of communicating with me and helping me out.”

The feeling is mutual, apparently.

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A look at the status of US executions in 2025

2025-05-15 19:19 Last Updated At：19:20

Fifteen men have died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U.S., and 12 other people are scheduled to be put to death in eight states during the remainder of 2025.

Glen Rogers is set to die by lethal injection in Florida on Thursday, followed by scheduled executions in Texas and Indiana on May 20 and Tennessee on May 22, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Other states with scheduled executions this year are Alabama, Mississippi, Ohio, and Oklahoma, though Ohio’s governor has been routinely postponing the actions as their dates near.

So far this year, executions have been carried out in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.

The most recent U.S. execution took place May 1, when Jeffrey Hutchinson, 62, died by lethal injection in Florida for the 1998 shotgun slayings of his girlfriend and her three young children.

A look at the executions scheduled for the rest of the year, by state:

Rogers, 62, was convicted in the 1995 stabbing death of Tina Marie Cribbs near Tampa. Rogers, who has said he killed many people around the country, was also sentenced to death in California for another woman’s murder.

Anthony Wainwright, 54, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on June 10 for the kidnapping, rape and murder of Carmen Gayheart in 1994. Gayheart was abducted from a grocery store parking lot in Lake City, Florida.

Matthew Johnson's execution is set for Tuesday.

In 2012, Johnson walked into a gas station with a plastic bottle filled with bleach and continued behind the sales counter where a woman was working. He took cigarettes, lighters and cash before pouring the bleach on her and setting her on fire and walking out. The worker died later at a hospital as a result of her injuries.

Benjamin Ritchie is scheduled to be executed Tuesday in the fatal shooting of Beech Grove Police Officer Bill Toney in September 2000. According to court records, Ritchie jumped out of a stolen van after a police pursuit. Toney was chasing him when Ritchie turned and shot him four times.

A jury convicted Ritchie of murder and other offenses in 2002. Ritchie has unsuccessfully challenged the convictions at the state and federal level. His latest motion asked permission to raise arguments that his attorney was ineffective because the lawyer failed to investigate whether Ritchie suffered from fetal alcohol spectrum disorders as well as childhood lead exposure.

Tennessee’s Supreme Court has set execution dates for three inmates this year.

Oscar Smith, 75, is scheduled to be executed May 22. Smith was convicted of fatally stabbing and shooting his estranged wife and her teenage sons at their Nashville home in 1989.

Smith was within minutes of being executed in 2022 when Gov. Bill Lee issued a sudden reprieve. Smith’s attorney had requested the results of required purity and potency tests for the lethal injection drugs that were to be used on him. It turned out a test was never done.

An independent review later found that none of the drugs prepared for the seven inmates executed in Tennessee since 2018 had been fully tested.

The Tennessee Department of Correction issued a new execution protocol in late December that will utilize the single drug pentobarbital.

Byron Black, 69, is scheduled to be executed on Aug. 5. Black was convicted in 1989 of three counts of first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of his girlfriend, Angela Clay, and her two daughters.

Harold Nichols, 64, is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 11. Nichols was convicted of rape and first-degree felony murder in the 1988 death of Karen Pulley in Hamilton County.

Gregory Hunt, 65, is scheduled to die by nitrogen gas on June 10 for the 1988 beating death of Karen Lane. She was found dead in an apartment in Cordova that she shared with another woman. Hunt had been dating Lane for about one month before her death, according to court records.

Alabama last year became the first state to carry out an execution with nitrogen gas. Nitrogen has now been used in five executions — four in Alabama and one in Louisiana. The method involves using a gas mask to force a person to breathe pure nitrogen gas, depriving them of the oxygen needed to stay alive.

John Fitzgerald Hanson, 61, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on June 12.

An Oklahoma board has denied clemency for Hanson, who was convicted of killing a Tulsa woman in 1999.

Hanson was transferred to Oklahoma custody in March by federal officials following through on President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order to more actively support the death penalty.

Mississippi’s longest-serving death row inmate is set to be executed on June 25.

Richard Gerald Jordan, 78, was sentenced to death in 1976 for kidnapping and killing a woman. Jordan has filed multiple death sentence appeals, the most recent of which was denied in October.

Mississippi Supreme Court records show Jordan kidnapped Edwina Marter and shot her to death in a forest in Harrison County. He then called her husband, falsely claimed she was safe and asked for $25,000.

Mississippi law allows death sentences to be carried out using lethal injection, nitrogen gas, electrocution or firing squad.

Ohio has two executions set for later this year, with Timothy Coleman scheduled to die on Oct. 30 and Kareem Jackson scheduled to be executed on Dec. 10.

However, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has been routinely postponing the actions as their dates approach. He did so in February, when he postponed into 2028 three executions scheduled for June, July and August of this year. DeWine has said publicly that he does not anticipate any further executions will happen on his watch as governor, which runs through 2026.