Coming off victories against a pair of the league’s best teams in their last two games Saquon Barkley Giants Jersey , the New Jersey Devils can ill afford a letdown Tuesday night when they host the Carolina Hurricanes at the Prudential Center.

However, those wins against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning only guaranteed that the Devils (39-28-8) remain in the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, barely holding off the red-hot Florida Panthers, who sit just one point behind New Jersey.

“We’ve certainly held tough with some of the best teams and the hardest buildings to play in,” Devils forward Blake Coleman told northjersey.com. “If that doesn’t give you confidence going into these last eight games, or whatever it is, nothing will. Now, we need to keep carrying it forward.”

New Jersey surrendered only four goals in beating the Penguins and Lightning, two of the NHL’s top-scoring clubs. A committed effort from “a group of self-starters”, as Devils coach John Hynes called his players, combined with solid play from goaltender Keith Kinkaid paved the way for the two victories, as well as the recent run in which New Jersey has five victories in seven games.

Kinkaid, who started the season as the backup to Cory Schneider Cheap Sam Darnold Jersey , has helped keep the Devils’ playoff hopes alive while Schneider missed extensive time due to injury and then struggled when healthy. Kinkaid has a career-high 21 wins this season, while Schneider is without a victory since Dec. 27, losing his last 11 decisions.

“Keith has been a difference maker,” Hynes said of Kinkaid, who will start for the seventh time in the last eight games on Tuesday. “He’s really come in and played well. He’s been a really important factor in us remaining competitive in the playoff race.”

Kinkaid and his teammates must sustain their recent high level of play against the Hurricanes (34-31-11), who are barely breathing in the playoff race, seven points behind the Devils with only six games to play. However, the Hurricanes carry some momentum of their own into Tuesday’s clash in Newark, winning three straight games and four of their last five.

Carolina finished off a home-and-home sweep of the Ottawa Senators Monday night with a 4-1 home-ice victory which followed Saturday’s 5-2 win north of the border. The Hurricanes drew inspiration from a pair of rookies recently-recalled from the minor leagues in their most recent victory.

Warren Foegele made his NHL debut on Monday and notched his first career goal and assist, while recording five hits. Valentin Zykov netted his third goal — and fifth point — in his fourth game for Carolina in the win, as well.

“I thought I’d do a tight turn and just shoot it on net. … It was fortunate enough to go in,” Foegele said of his goal. “I heard the crowd make the noise, and I looked in the back of the net. A pretty surreal moment for myself. Something I’ll remember forever.”

Like Foegele Anthony Miller Bears Jersey , Zykov scored a goal in his NHL debut on March 9, 2017, one of two games he played last year. This season, he was held scoreless after his recall on March 20, but followed up with a two-goal game, a two-assist game and another goal on Monday.

“It’s exciting. You’re happy for them. They’ve worked hard all their life, and all of a sudden they realize the dream,” Carolina coach Bill Peters told reporters. “The dream is to make the National Hockey League, and then they score. They gave us good energy (Monday) night.”

Tuesday marks the fourth and final meeting between these Metropolitan Division rivals this season. The Devils won the first two games, 5-2 on Feb. 15 and 3-2 in overtime three days later. Carolina rebounded in the last get together for a 3-1 victory of its own.

PHOENIX — Right-hander Yoshihisa Hirano has been spectacularly efficient in his first season in Arizona, part of the reason the Diamondbacks will enter their four-game series against the San Diego Padres with the best bullpen ERA in the majors.

Hirano may be a major league rookie, but his work the last five seasons as a closer with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan has translated well.

Hirano, 34 Authentic James Washington Jersey , had a franchise-record 26-game scoreless streak broken in an 8-4 loss to St. Louis on Wednesday, when he finished one scoreless appearance short of tying former Red Sox right-hander Koji Uehara for the longest such streak by a Japanese-born pitcher in major league history. Even that loss could not diminish the value Hirano has had this season.

Arizona right-hander Shelby Miller is scheduled to face San Diego left-hander Eric Lauer in the first game of the series Thursday.

Arizona manager Torey Lovullo was Boston’s bench coach when Uehara set the record in 2013, so he can provide a comparison of Uehara and Hirano.

“They have the same work habits, which is pretty impressive,” Lovullo said. “They both come in and get their work done pregame. They come in and get their work done postgame. They find themselves healthy and strong and prepared for every single one of their outings.

“They both have a fearlessness to their game and an approach to understanding what needs to happen during each at-bat. They are not afraid to put the ball on the plate with two different pitches. They go out and expect to get outs. Very similar mind-set. Very similar makeup. Very similar confidence.”

Hirano is 2-0 with a 1.43 ERA in 42 appearances. He has 19 holds, fourth in the majors, and he has permitted only one of his 16 inherited runners to score while being primarily used in the seventh inning. Eighth-inning reliever Archie Bradley leads the majors with 22 holds and closer Brad Boxberger has 20 saves.

Uehara began the 2013 season in a similar setup role in the Boston bullpen before advancing to the closer’s role after injuries thinned the relief corps. He finished with 21 saves, a 1.09 ERA and an 0.57 WHIP.

“As soon as he became the closer, he gave off a certain edge and a certain confidence that was noticeable,” Lovullo said.

“It’s as close to a slam dunk, shut-down ninth-inning save as I’ve ever seen. He had this ability to collect outs and get through innings in 12 pitches or less. It was so quick, the ninth inning was over before it even started. It was a very comfortable setting for all of us. You played the Boston Red Sox in 2013 for eight innings because the ninth inning was over. That’s what I remember.”

Hirano has a 1.01 WHIP, fourth among major league relievers with at least 40 appearances.

“He’s been very versatile Authentic Michael Pineda Jersey ,” Lovullo said. “He’s unfazed by any role we have asked him to do. He can pitch in traffic. He can start clean innings. He can get left-handers and right-handers out.”

The Diamondbacks lost two of three to St. Louis and have dropped five of their past six games overall. They took two out of three games in their only other series against the Padres this season, also at Chase Field.

San Diego has slumped over the last 2 1/2 weeks. The Padres have lost three in a row and are 3-13 since beating Atlanta 9-3 behind left-hander Clayton Richard on June 15. They have scored 30 runs in their last 10 games.

“We’re not getting hits with runners in scoring position,” San Diego manager Andy Green told reporters after a two-game sweep in Oakland.

“Sometimes the best thing you can do is relax, go play baseball and enjoy what you’re doing. Then the hits start coming.”

Christian Villanueva hit his 17th homer for the Padres in a 4-2 loss to the A’s Wednesday.

Miller is 0-2 with an 11.42 ERA in two starts this season after returning from a 14-month absence following Tommy John surgery in last May, 2017. He has given up 15 hits and 11 runs in 8 2/3 innings.

Miller is 2-2 with a 4.54 ERA in eight career appearances, including seven starts, against the Padres. He had a strong outing against them early last season, giving up four hits and one run in 7 1/3 innings in the third of his four starts before suffering the elbow injury.

Rookie Lauer joined the Padres’ rotation in late April and is 3-5 with a 5.08 ERA in 13 starts this season. He was 2-2 with a 2.76 ERA in six June starts and is 1-2 with a 5.09 ERA in seven road starts.

He has never faced the Diamondbacks.

.