The Carolina Hurricanes are going to have to once again dig out of a hole after dropping Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final 5-4 to the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Hurricanes started hot, with two goals from Nikolaj Ehlers, but the team just couldn't handle Vegas' pressure and eventually broke to give up the late winner.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Shayne Gostisbehere, Jordan Staal, Seth Jarvis and Nikolaj Ehlers spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
On if the defense felt disjointed tonight: At times, yeah, but they forced us into it and we didn't handle the pressure particularly well. And sometimes there wasn't pressure and we kind of made a few poor decisions with the puck and they capitalized.
On the Jordan Staal line: They were great. They had a tough matchup. They did their part, for sure. Gave us a chance. What more can you say.
On what made it difficult to handle Vegas' forecheck: They're doing what we're trying to do. Staying above you and putting a lot of … they've got some big guys and, obviously, that was the game, right? They made some mistakes when we got in on them and we made too many under that pressure too. So that's the game.
On the Sebastian Aho line's struggles: Yeah, they had one good shift in the third there, but, yeah, they've gotta — I mean, everyone has to play well if you're gonna win at this time of year. It's as simple as that. And your best guys have got to get on the score sheet. That's going to have to happen if we want to get where we want to be.
On the power play: You've got to execute. You noticed the passing was, when we had the looks, there it was, and then it was in the skates. That was really what I noticed. The power play is about execution, and you've got to make the plays when they're there, and we didn't execute very well.
On the start and the energy of the crowd: The crowd here is always great. It was a great start and then we had a pretty bad turnover to get them back in the game when there was really no reason for it. That was... It's one thing when you're under siege, but we weren't really under siege there. We just kind of tossed it away. And then they made us pay on it. Listen, you've got to give them credit. That's a great team and we're right there. We made a few mistakes that we've got to try to clean up and we've got to have a little better execution. Again, you're not winning this thing if you have those kind of errors and lack of execution.
On Jordan Staal's importance as a leader: He's obviously been leading us all playoffs. Just watch how he's playing. That's all you have to see. He has an advantage. He's a big man and this is a big man's game. But he's dragging us into this for sure.
On Shayne Gostisbehere taking the blame for the loss: You can't... Like I said, those were the kind of mistakes we made tonight that, really, you just don't make. And we made too many of those tonight.
On using lessons from losing Game 1 of ECF: Again, this is a totally different team. And that may be part of it too. We've got to get up to speed on how this game and this series is going to go. I think we certainly got a taste of that now. And similarly, we made a lot of mistakes in that first game. It cost us. But you can't make 'em. You can't make 'em.
On if this game felt uncharacteristic for the group: That's a good team. I thought they just played a little bit better than us. They executed their game plan and were aggressive on their forecheck and played in our end and they buried their chances when they had them. There were some good things we had, and the game's there, but we've got to be better. We'll look at it and come back in Game 2.
On struggling against Vegas' forecheck: They were forechecking well. One guy was hard and they're reading the play well and getting above our guys and creating turnovers in different areas than we've been used to. So we've got to obviously adjust and find ways to break the puck out of our end better and get in their end and wear them down.
On the power play's lack of finish: It wasn't great. It didn't look as dangerous as theirs and we have to better. There's no question. There's more to be had and there was a couple opportunities, but for the most part, the execution wasn't there.
On also having lost Game 1 loss of the Eastern Conference Final: Yep. It's a battle and it's going to be a grind, and we're expecting that. It's a tough loss for sure, but, like I said, we've got to get our game in better shape if we want to beat this team. We'll look at it and come back in Game 2.
On getting stopped 19 seconds before the eventual winner: Yeah, I didn't get quite enough wood on that pass from Fishy, and yeah, they capitalized. We didn't.
On if it feels like a missed opportunity with the start they had: Yeah, but I mean, they're here for a reason. They're going to respond, so we just have to better with that. A few missed details and it ended up costing us.
On the confidence to bounce back for Game 2: I have a ton of confidence in this group. We've bounced back before and we felt like we were right there tonight. Just clean up a few things and move on from there.
On if it felt like the team was on its heels more tonight than in other series: In stretches, yeah, but teams are gonna have pushes. We need to do a better job of weathering them. I thought overall, it wasn't terrible, but like I said before, a few things we have to clean up.
On his line's struggle to get on the scoresheet: Yeah, I mean, there is [frustration], but like I've said in the past, the chances are there. We've had our looks, we just have to capitalize now more than ever. We can't dwell on the past, can't dwell on the stuff we missed. It's about the next shift, the next shot.
On what he felt the team did well that they can build on: Came out fast, came out hard. I mean, Ehlers' line did a great job. Penalty kill was good. We had good parts of our game, just not quite enough tonight.
On if he was surprised it was such a high-scoring game: I mean, no. Both teams have talent and the ability to finish.
On if this is going to be their toughest test yet: It's the Final. It should be the toughest test. It's the best team in the West.
On what made it difficult to breakout of their own zone tonight: I mean, they are a good team, they pressure really well. But we didn't do a good enough job of getting pucks out and that takes all five of the guys out there. We weren't able to do that enough. That created some chances for them and they are too good of a team not to score on those chances.
On needing to tighten things up defensively:Absolutely. Again, this is a good team we are playing against and as you saw tonight, when they get their chances, they score on them. We made too many mistakes.
On if the way last series went gives them confidence for this one: I mean, a lot, obviously. It's one game. Obviously we'd rather be up 1-0, but there's six games to go. We're fine with taking this to seven if we need to.
On how different of an opponent Vegas is: I don't know. They're a good team. They're fast, they have skill. Yeah. They're a good team.
On needing to bounce back: That's why there's seven of these things. We did a lot of good things tonight, but they obviously did some great things too. It was a back and forth game, for sure. It's gonna be a tough one, for sure.
On if it was difficult defensively tonight: A little bit. I think they got some bounces too. They're a highly skilled team and they have a lot of playmakers out there. We have to be aware in all situations.
On his concern level for the power play: We just gotta get our looks. We got two really good units and I think we had some good play, just maybe need to settle down a little bit, be more patient. Don't force things and come back to it.
On the game-winner: He tried to shoot it and I took a breather for a second and it went right to their guy. That's how quick it can happen. It was definitely on me. Just took a breather for a second.
On if he felt there was enough in that game to build on: For sure. We did some great things. Getting pucks deep, causing turnovers, the forecheck was doing great things too. Just need to clean up some things and I think we'll be okay.
On the Golden Knights' forecheck: They're a heavy forecheck team and they're going to finish every hit. Maybe a little different than what we played against. Might take a little bit to get used to. But it's about us getting pucks out. Whoever breaks pucks out better is going to have more success. Obviously we just have to clean that up.
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