Hurricanes aim for another deep push in 7th straight playoff trip entering Round 1 against Devils

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The blueprint keeps bringing the Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The only question is whether it will be enough to push them within reach of the Cup itself.

The Hurricanes open their seventh straight playoff run Sunday against the New Jersey Devils. That puts Carolina among only four teams with active playoff streaks of at least seven years, joining Toronto (nine), Colorado (eight) and Tampa Bay (eight).

The Hurricanes, who hold the No. 2 playoff spot from the Metropolitan Division, have won at least one series each year in their current run and twice reached the Eastern Conference Final (2019 and 2023). The approach hasn’t changed much in Rod Brind’Amour’s coaching tenure: use an aggressive forecheck to control the puck and keep the pressure on in the offensive zone while minimizing the opportunities going the other way.

It routinely puts the Hurricanes in position to win, though pushing to the final round has proven elusive — particularly when it comes to generating goals and elite scoring chances in tight games.

“I think we play a pretty consistent game,” Brind’Amour said. “We’ve got good balance. We rely on all 20 guys. I don’t think there’s any one thing that we can say we hang our hat on. But I just think our game, when we’re on, just top to bottom when the penalty kill’s good, when our power play’s going good, it’s just a solid game and that’s kind of the way we approach it.

“We’re not relying on one thing, I guess is the way I look at it, because we’re just not built that way.”

The Devils, the Metro's No. 3 team, are in the playoffs for only the third time since 2012. The last trip ended with a five-game loss to the Hurricanes in the second round. New Jersey won’t have top center Jack Hughes, who had shoulder surgery in March and is out for the season.

“Since playing them just after Christmas, we had a pretty good sense that if we were going to make the playoffs, it would be in a situation like this where we’re playing Carolina," coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We’ve been having an eye toward them for a while.”

Games 1 and 2 are in Raleigh, North Carolina, with Game 2 set for Tuesday. The series then shifts to Newark, New Jersey, for Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on April 27.

If necessary, Game 5 will take place in Raleigh on April 29, Game 6 will be May 2 in Newark and Game 7 on May 4 back in Raleigh.

Offensively minded defenseman Dougie Hamilton returned for New Jersey in the regular-season finale after he had been out since early March due to a lower-body injury.

Hamilton logged 23:42 of ice time in his return.

“It was great just to be back playing (and) get ready for playoffs,” said Hamilton, who missed 18 games.

Defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler has been out with a lower-body injury since early February. While Siegenthaler has been skating, Keefe said “it would be a surprise to me and our team” if he returned during this series.

Jacob Markstrom had a bounce-back first year in New Jersey, finishing 26-16-6 with a 2.50 goals-against average with four shutouts. He allowed three goals or fewer in six of his last seven starts, including a shutout.

The Hurricanes have leaned on veteran Frederik Andersen more in the playoffs in recent years, and Brind'Amour said Saturday that Carolina would “more than likely” go with Andersen (13-8-1, 2.50 goals-against average) in Game 1 over 25-year-old Pyotr Kochetkov (27-16-3, 2.60 GAA).

The Devils have a more balanced offense than in the postseason meeting of 2023.

Nico Hischier (career-high 35 goals and 34 assists), Jesper Bratt (21 goals and career-high and franchise-record 67 assists) and Timo Meier (26 goals, 27 assists) have all increased their production in Jack Hughes’ absence. New Jersey is third on the power play (28.2%) and their PK is second (82.7%) behind only Carolina.

Carolina has multiple veterans from its playoff streak, including center Sebastian Aho, captain Jordan Staal, forward Seth Jarvis and defenseman Jaccob Slavin. But there could be a late addition with the arrival of top defenseman prospect Alexander Nikishin from the KHL. It's unclear whether the 23-year-old viewed as a long-term piece will play much, if at all, in this series.

“We just wanted to get him over here and then I think we'll just progress as it goes,” Brind'Amour said Saturday of starting Nikishin's “learning curve.”

AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno in Washington and AP Sports Writer Vin A. Cherwoo in Newark, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

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Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho, center, celebrates his goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs with teammates Seth Jarvis (24) and Brent Burns (8) during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

New Jersey Devils defenseman Brett Pesce (22) skates with the puck past New York Islanders center Kyle Palmieri in the third period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

New Jersey Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom makes a save in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) blocks a shot from the Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe directs his team in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

DETROIT (AP) — Sixteen states and the District of Columbia are suing the Trump administration for what they say is the unlawful withholding of over $2 billion in funding for two electric vehicle charging programs.

A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Seattle is the latest legal battle that Democratic-led states are pursuing over funding for EV charging infrastructure that they say was obligated to them by Congress under former President Joe Biden, but that the Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration are “impounding.”

“The Trump administration’s illegal attempt to stop funding for electric vehicle infrastructure must come to an end,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a release. “This is just another reckless attempt that will stall the fight against air pollution and climate change, slow innovation, thwart green job creation, and leave communities without access to clean, affordable transportation."

President Donald Trump's administration has been hostile to EVs and has dismantled several Biden-era policies friendly to cleaner cars and trucks in favor of policies that align with Trump’s oil and gas industry agenda.

Transportation Department officials did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The Trump administration in February ordered states to halt spending money for EV charging that was allocated in the bipartisan infrastructure law passed under the previous administration.

Several states filed a lawsuit in May against the administration for withholding the funding from the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program for a nationwide charging buildout. A federal judge later ordered the administration to release much of the funding for chargers in more than a dozen states.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy later issued revised guidance intended to streamline funding applications for states and make charger deployment more efficient. At least four states — Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, and Wisconsin — have announced awards under the vehicle infrastructure program, according to Loren McDonald, chief analyst at EV data firm Chargeonomics, who tracks the state awards.

Tuesday's separate lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, addresses withholding of funds for two other programs: $1.8 billion for the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant program, as well as about $350 million for the Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability and Accessibility Accelerator program.

The lawsuit is led by attorneys general from California and Colorado, joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, and the governor of Pennsylvania. All are Democrats.

After returning to office in January, Trump immediately ordered an end to what he has called Biden's “EV mandate.” While Biden targeted for half of new vehicle sales in the U.S. to be electric by 2030, his policies did not force American consumers to buy EVs or automakers to sell them.

Biden did set stringent tailpipe emissions and fuel economy rules in an effort to encourage more widespread EV adoption, as the auto industry would have had to meet both sets of requirements with a greater number of EVs in their sales mix. Under the Biden administration, consumers could also receive up to $7,500 in tax incentives off the price of an EV purchase, a program that congressional Republicans ended last fall.

The Trump administration has proposed rolling back both tailpipe emissions rules and the gas mileage standards and eliminated fines to automakers for not meeting those standards.

Trump has also repeated incorrect information about the status of the federal charging programs; without all of the funds available, only a fraction of what was obligated has been spent so far.

“We had to have an electric car within a very short period of time, even though there was no way of charging them and lots of other things,” Trump said in a Dec. 3 press conference about the proposed weakened fuel economy rules. “In certain parts of the Midwest, they spent -- to build nine chargers they spent $8 billion. So, that wasn’t working out too well.”

The lawsuit comes amid those regulatory changes and as the pace of EV sales have slowed in the U.S. as mainstream buyers remain concerned about both charging availability and the price of the vehicles.

New EVs sold for an average of $58,638 last month, compared with $49,814 for a new vehicle overall, according to auto buying resource Kelley Blue Book.

Automakers, meanwhile, have responded to consumers accordingly.

Earlier this week, Ford Motor Co. announced it was pivoting away from its once-ambitious, multi-billion dollar electrification strategy in lieu of more hybrid-electric and more fuel-efficient gasoline-powered vehicles.

In the spring, Honda Motor Co. also said it would take a significant step back from its EV efforts.

Associated Press writer Matthew Daly in Washington contributed to this report.

Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.

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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks during a news conference at the Department of Transportation in Washington, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)