RALEIGH, N.C. -- K'Andre Miller had yet to play his first game for the Carolina Hurricanes, but on Thursday the defenseman was aware of the challenge ahead.
"I think we're pretty good on paper, but it's a matter of proving it game in and game out," Miller said before the season opener against the New Jersey Devils. "You can say all you want before the season starts, but once that first puck drops it's game on and you have to be ready to go.
"Obviously, there's a lot of expectation. I think we've got all the pieces to make us a great team. It's a matter of bringing the work every day and getting the results."
A few hours later, it was game on at the Lenovo Center. The result was a 6-3 Hurricanes victory against a team they will battle throughout the season in the Metropolitan Division.
Seth Jarvis gave the Canes a 4-3 lead with 2:43 left in regulation, banging the puck past goalie Jacob Markstrom. It was a defensive mistake by Jarvis that allowed the Devils to tie it 3-3, but his go-ahead goal had the winger thrusting his arms in the air.
Jarvis then clinched it with an empty-net goal, and Eric Robinson added another against Markstrom to make it 6-3.
Miller did his part for the Hurricanes. Traded to Carolina by the New York Rangers in the offseason, he scored twice. The second, on a power play with 9:39 left in regulation, pushed the Canes ahead, 3-2, and had the building rumbling.
Jesper Bratt quieted the crowd for the Devils, tying it 3-3, scoring off a Brett Pesce pass after getting past Jarvis.
It was 2-2 after 40 minutes. Forward Taylor Hall scored for the Canes just four minutes into the game, and Miller scored his first as a Hurricane in the second.
Dougie Hamilton, the former Canes defenseman, scored off a backhander, and forward Cody Glass with a bullet of a shot off the rush, both in the second period for the Devils.
The Canes came within an inch of taking a lead into the third, but a Sebastian Aho short-handed attempt banged off the post. Jarvis twice found the post in the third and Hall also hit the iron.
The game had enough good shots and scoring chances to keep both goalies -- the Canes' Frederik Andersen and Markstrom -- busy enough.
Opening night had all the usual trappings. The tailgaters were out early on a sunny, picture-perfect day. There was music outside; there were kids playing.
And then everything went indoors, as Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour put it, to "get started for real."
Period of firsts
For the record, Canes captain Jordan Staal won the first faceoff of the season. Aho had the first shot and Jarvis the first hit.
Andersen's first save was on a Luke Hughes shot 90 seconds into the game. His first big save came later in the first period, on an Evgeni Dadonov shot in tight.
The Canes had the first power play early in the second, and it was brief as Miller took the first penalty for Carolina for high sticking. The Canes did kill off that first penalty.
Hall, of course, had the first goal. His redirection of a Shayne Gostisbehere shot gave the Canes a 1-0 lead and gave Gostisbehere and defenseman Alexander Nikishin the Canes' first assists -- for Niksihin, playing his first regular-season game for the Canes, his first regular-season point.
Forward Eric Robinson did not get an assist on the Hall score but did his part, fighting for possession of the puck after the Canes lost the faceoff and getting it to Nikishin.
Hamilton tied it 1-1 midway through the second on a backhander that got through Andersen. That came not long after a Canes power play marked by over-passing.
Miller quickly restored the Canes' lead a minute later. Taking a pass from William Carrier in the high slot, he flipped the puck toward the net and it got past Markstrom.
The Devils then evened the score as Glass beat Andersen in transition off a 2-on-1, Glass faking a pass and then letting it rip from the left circle.
The Canes twice had chances to score shorthanded late in the second after a Staal penalty. Aho's shot hit the post -- many in the arena believed he had scored -- and Jordan Martinook was stopped on a breakaway.
Of note: Kochetkov out
Goalie Brandon Bussi was in the Canes' lineup as the backup when Pyotr Kochetkov was unable to play because of an undisclosed injury. Kochetkov will be further evaluated Friday, Brind'Amour said.