'Can't Happen. Not In The NHL': Rod Brind'Amour, Jackson Blake, Eric Robinson On Loss to Kings
The Canes fell 4-2 to the Kings Saturday night.
The Carolina Hurricanes saw their seven-game point streak snapped Saturday night as they were handed a 4-2 loss by the LA Kings.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Eric Robinson both scored for Carolina, but the team just good enough defensively or in net tonight.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Jackson Blake and Robinson spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On the loss: The bounces certainly didn't go our way, even after we got Robbie's goal because then we got an empty net, bounces off the post and we somehow shove it back in and then they come down and score. We didn't get the bounces tonight.
On Jackson Blake: That line had a very, very good game and had nothing to show for it. They were really impactful and I thought Blake was maybe the most impactful player.
On giving up transition goals: I didn't love the goals we gave up. Obviously they're kind of self explanatory if you watch them. Can't happen. Not in the NHL and not against a good team. You can't give them breakaways and 2-on-1s out of nothing. That's a big concern.
On Andrei Svechnikov's status: That was a weird one because he practiced today and everything. I think it was just more precautionary than anything.
On Juha Jaaska: He plays hard every shift. He's trying to do whatever he can to make an impact and I've thought every game he's done a really good job.
On his decision to bench Dmitry Orlov following the Kings' fourth goal: He had a tough night, we'll just say that.
Jackson Blake
On if the game swung on the Kings'' first goal that should have been a penalty: Obviously you always want to have the lead, of course, but I feel like it doesn't matter. You gotta play the same way regardless of the score. Whether it's 1-0 or 1-1. I feel like we should stick to our game plan no matter what.
On the officiating: It's a hard job obviously being a ref, but I'm not going to say too much on that. It's their job and whatever they see I guess goes.
On his line: Fishy didn't play last game, but we're four games in with Rants now and I feel like we're kind of building that chemistry a little bit. Unfortunately that one didn't count, Fishy's goal, but I feel like we gotta find a way. I think Rod expects us to pot some and we have to find a way to find the net. But overall, I think we dominated, just couldn't get the result.
On facing off against Drew Doughty: Obviously that guy's a legend. One of the best in the league and one of the best D probably of all time. Obviously I knew he was going to be tough to go against in the corners and I tried to shake him as much as I could. Obviously it's fun to play against those guys.
On his building confidence: I think my confidence has grown dramatically throughout the year and I think it's the highest it's ever been right now. I feel like every guy in this league knows how to play defense and regardless of who it is, you have to just stick to what you can do and what makes us successful.
On letting plays go on and be reviewed other than blown dead immediately: For sure because there's obviously always a chance. I mean with that one, it was unfortunate. I tried to get it to Rants but I just swung and missed it. Very unfortunate.
Eric Robinson
On missing a chance on one end that went the other way for a goal against: It sucks. Slips under my stick. I had a chance to tie the game. Happens a lot in hockey. You see a good chance at the one end and the other team capitalizes on the other end. So yeah, it definitely sucks.
On his goal: It was nice at the time. Like I said, it would have been nice to find a way. We had a chance right after too. Marty with a good chance off the post. We had a lot of chances, just didn't go our way.
On tying his career-high in goals: I think obviously early on getting the chance to play with KK and Neci for a while and got me off to a hot start. In all sports, and especially hockey, playing with confidence is everything. I think I've just been confident in my abilities this year.
On Brent Burns getting his 900th career point on his goal: It's really cool. Obviously I'm really fortunate to get to play with guys like Burnsy and Jordo who have done it for so long and done it the right way. Guys I looked up to when I was younger. To see 900 points is pretty crazy.
On the team gutting their way through with so many players dealing with illnesses: It's tough. It seems like it happens at least once a year throughout the team. You just spend so much time together. But good on the guys who have been battling through it.