It wasn't the prettiest game, but the Carolina Hurricanes got the job done in Vancouver, winning 6-3 Tuesday night.
It was an evening of two-goal outings, with Logan Stankoven, Nikolaj Ehlers and Nicolas Deslauriers all potting a pair of goals in the victory.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour, along with Deslauriers, Ehlers and Stankoven spoke with the media in Vancouver. Here's what they had to say:
On the game: I thought we were good the whole night, it was just... they got a couple of goals. They're gonna score and we gave up a couple chances. A couple of weird ones, like we run into the goalie. But overall, we pretty much had control of what we wanted to do and got rewarded for it in the end.
On Nicolas Deslauriers: He's just a character player. Not really known for pucks in the net, but a couple nice ones. The first one especially. You root for guys like that to get a little recognition on the other end of things because they do a lot of the heavy lifting. Nice to see that happen tonight.
On Nikolaj Ehlers joining a line with Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake: It's three really talented players and you saw it there really on full display tonight. On the first goal, great shot, but a great pass. Then on the game winner, that's all [Ehlers]. Just unbelievable speed. You put those three together, it's a lot of skill. Sometimes that doesn't work, but it worked tonight.
On Juuso Valimaki's team debut: You know what, he played really well for not having played since training camp. That was a worry with throwing him into the lineup, but I thought he had his hands on the first goal, a quick-up pass. Then I thought he played well. Good on him to step in and contribute.
On Bradly Nadeau: Both Nads and Felix [Unger Sorum] are young kids still trying to find their way in this league and trying to give them a little bit of an opportunity tonight. I thought Nads had some good plays and some not so good plays, but on [the second Deslauriers] goal, that was a nice pass. He's got a lot of talent. We have a good group that has a lot of skill and talent now. We've added a lot of that and I think you saw that tonight.
On Pyotr Kochetkov's performance: You can't fault him on any of the goals. The way I look at, he made one big save that we needed which was a breakaway at the end of the second when the game was tied. That might have been all we needed, but we needed it. That's what goaltending is about. When we needed a big save, he gave it to us.
On the third period effort: It was better, for sure. I think you have to give a lot of credit to [Kochetkov] also. It was kind of a weird game for him, but that breakaway [save] at the end of the second period was huge and kept us in it. We battled back and put the puck behind them and capitalized.
On having three of his five multi-goal games all in Vancouver: I should play them more often. I should play here more often. I don't know. I guess it happens, but don't get used to it, that's for sure.
On developing chemistry with Bradly Nadeau: Nads is a special player. I think the main thing I was telling him was to shoot the puck and if you have nothing, put it behind them and me and [Jesperi Kotkaniemi] will find a way to find it. On that second goal, he made an unbelievable pass. He has a bright future, that's for sure. But just keep telling him to shoot the puck because he has an unbelievable shot.
On the team reception to his big game: It's great. I think I've said it often too, I don't expect to score goals. It's fun when it happens, but I know what my job is. I'm not going to deviate into me scoring two goals and thinking I have to score goals now. That's not my job, but it's fun. It keeps the guys loose a little bit.
On getting back into the win column after a sloppy loss: It's one of those trips too that feels long. You play back-to-back, but you have to give credit to Calgary. We didn't play our best and they stepped on us in the third. But I think there's still some things we have to fix here in this game, but with the depth that we have, we showed that scoring is not a difficult thing for us. We just have to prevent the scoring chances against.
On the game: The third period, playing more the way that we need to play. Getting pucks deep, creating some turnovers and getting o-zone time. Shooting a little more. I thought we didn't play a great first 40, but we got the win. We'll take the two points, but we have a lot better than that.
On the chemistry with his new linemates: We played a little together last year where I thought we created some chemistry. Those two guys, they're pretty easy to play with. They've got an incredible work ethic, they're on the opponents, they've got great sticks, made some great plays obviously today. Think our speed and our quickness creates a lot of good stuff. I think we've got to clean up defensively and not give up some of the big chances we gave up, but overall, good first game.
On the depth scoring: It's huge. It was there all of last year and it took us all the way. In this league, you have to have every single guy contributing. This year, we've done a really good job of that as well. Seeing a guy like [Deslauriers], who's always in a great mood, works hard, is incredible.
On Pyotr Kochetkov: I mean, I don't know much about goaltending, but he's a great guy. Obviously it was a — excuse my language — a shit year for him last year, so we were hoping for him to bounce back and feel good and he's done that. We're happy with him, we're happy with [Brandon] Bussi obviously. We're very confident in our two goalies.
On the game: I just think our depth chipped in when we needed it most. It was awesome to see D-Lo get on the scoresheet. It brought a lot of energy out there for us. [Kochetkov] made some big saves when we needed him to and we really bared down in the third there.
On the depth scoring: That's why we won last year. Everyone steps up when we need them most. It's just everyone pulling on the same rope. It doesn't matter if you're a top-line guy, fourth-line guy. Everyone has to take turns driving the bus and stepping up to the plate.
On scoring in front of hundreds of his friends and family from Kamloops: It was great. Awesome to get one early. It makes you feel good and you're kind of feeling it the rest of the game. Obviously some great plays by [Blake] and [Ehlers]. Just love the speed that we brought tonight.
'Those Are Skilled Guys': Bradly Nadeau, Felix Unger Sorum Excited About Opportunity With Carolina
Seth Jarvis To Travel With Hurricanes For Upcoming Five-Game Road Trip
The Inside Scoop On The Carolina Hurricanes New Championship Bling
Stay updated with the most interesting Carolina Hurricanes stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free . Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here . And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
