The Devils have already come back from one 2-0 deficit to win a playoff series, so why not another?

That was the prevailing question on Sunday afternoon in Newark, as the Devils announced themselves in Game 3 against the Hurricanes, playing a relentless 60 minutes of hockey on their way to an 8-4 demolition that pulled their deficit in the series back to 2-1 and delivered a message: New Jersey will be no easy out.

With Vitek Vanecek replacing Akira Schmid in net and Luke Hughes making his playoff debut to Damon Severson’s left, the Devils delivered a blindingly tenacious performance.

Their forecheck was dominant, the puck was constantly below the hashes, the superstars showed up and drove play — with Timo Meier and Nico Hischier both scoring their first goals of the playoffs while Jack Hughes finished with four points and a Gordie Howe hat trick.

This was the polar opposite of the first two games in Raleigh, which, like the first two games against the Rangers, saw the Devils get blown to smithereens by an opponent that looked more experienced and superior.

Maybe it just takes the Devils 120 minutes to find their moorings in a playoff series. Because, from the start on Sunday, the ice was tilted their way.

After going scoreless through the first nine games of the postseason, Meier opened the scoring 5:58 into the match, poking a feed from Jack Hughes past Frederik Andersen at the right post.

The elder Hughes got on the board himself five minutes later, rocketing in a give-and-go feed from Brendan Smith on a right-circle one-timer.

Less than two minutes after that, when the first seeds of momentum were planted for Carolina in the form of Tomas Tatar taking an offensive-zone high-sticking penalty, Michael McLeod charged past five Hurricanes off a center-ice faceoff and scored shorthanded.

That made it 3-0 at the first intermission, rendering the rest of the game a different kind of test for the Devils — one they passed with ease.

It took just 53 seconds of play in the second period for Hischier to finish a feed to the crease from Jesper Bratt, prompting Rod Brind’Amour to remove Andersen for Pyotr Kochetkov, Anderson having allowed four goals on 12 shots.

Sebastian Aho and Jordan Martinook would both score face-saving goals for the Hurricanes, the latter via penalty shot, while Severson added a fifth highlight-reel goal for the Devils, spinning off the wall and sniping the puck past Kochetkov, the assists courtesy of the brothers Hughes, before the second had ended.

The party was not over yet, though.

Miles Wood and Jack Hughes both scored dazzling goals within the first 5:17 of the third period, putting the game out of reach before the Hurricanes mounted a brief push with a pair of shorthanded goals from Jordan Staal and Seth Jarvis.

If that counted as a nervy moment, particularly after a five-on-three came and went for the Devils, then Ondrej Palat quickly put an end to any suspense with a five-on-four goal.

There is still a long way to go towards completing a second straight comeback from 2-0 down, and after Antti Raanta did not dress on Sunday due to illness, the question for Rod Brind’Amour now is who will man the net in Game 4.

Though Vanecek was far from a determining factor in the victory, Devils coach Lindy Ruff has now twice made a mid-series goalie change to his advantage.

If this version of the Devils continues to show up, though, there is no ceiling.

Jack Hughes looked every bit on Sunday like a playoff superstar, driving play on nearly every shift and getting some punches in on Aho for good measure.

Every line held the offensive zone.

The Hurricanes — a team that wins via speed and suffocation — looked dazed, confused and two steps behind.

New Jersey has already displayed it can outlast a purportedly superior team in a long series.

The chance is there to repeat the feat.