The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 Thursday night at PNC Arena.
Frederik Andersen made his first start since Nov. 2 and secured the win with 23 saves.
Brady Skjei scored twice and the Canes also had contributions from Stefan Noesen and Andrei Svechnikov.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Andersen and Skjei spoke with the media.
Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On Frederik Andersen's performance in his return: The first goal, it looked like maybe there was going to be some rust there, but then he made those two saves on [Gallagher] in the third. That was huge. The game right there could have switched. He made countless good ones when we needed it and that's really the key.
On holding Michael Bunting out of the lineup for "trade-related reasons": I can't really say much because it happened right before the game. All of sudden they came down and said, 'We might have to hold him out,' and obviously we did. Other than that, I have no other information to tell you.
On the situation from a player's perspective: It's tough for everybody in the league. Everybody's going through it this time of the year. Obviously with some teams, there's more buzz around it, but everybody understands that it's part of the business.
On the loose start: I think we were a little sluggish to start because of the five days off and then we gave them a couple of days. You could just tell that it was going to take a little time for us to get our legs up to speed and on pace. We were just a little off. Not terrible, but not quite doing it consistently right. I thought we played a little better as the game went on.
On Brady Skjei: He's a great player. Number one, he's a good skater. But we've seen it in the last few years here, he's got a good touch around the net. He can shoot and he's just a real good player. I think our system works well for him, but he's definitely been a special player for us.
On if Skjei's making a case to get in the shootout: It's funny that you mention that. It's not like we've had a ton of success this year with that, so you may see that option.
On Jack Drury and Stefan Noesen's chemistry: They enjoy playing with each other because they had that chemistry in the past. They're both very similar types of mindsets as players. Just grind it out and work, work, work. Obviously they do have a good connection.
On Frederik Andersen battling to return: That's the bigger story, really, for him. I know he had a lot of doubts about even ever lacing them up again. To just knock that one out and feel good about getting back out there, whether we won or loss, and doing something that he loves to do. That was probably the biggest takeaway.
Frederik Andersen
On his emotions: Very, very happy. It was just exciting to be out there with the guys again and feel the energy of the crowd. Being back was pretty nice.
On hearing all the fan support: We have great fans here, so I'm pretty used to those chants. It was just awesome. I'm glad I got some practice before a game, but it was awesome. They didn't disappoint.
On when he felt like he was back in the groove of things: At some point in the first, actually. I felt like I was wasting energy almost, just overmoving and not being as efficient as I usually am. Obviously, that gets you tired, so I'm sure that will come. Regardless of the result, I knew I was going to be a little rusty, but after the first [break], I got to settle in and then we got a nice goal to tie it up right after.
On if it felt like a season opener for him: Basically. That's kind of how we approached it at the start of this whole thing. When I found out, I tried to treat it like an offseason. I knew it was going to be a few months and I just tried to stay as ready as possible even though I wasn't on the ice as much. The second I got the go-ahead to be on the ice, I just tried to get my feet back under me again. Probably a good analogy.
On being able to put some of the fear and doubt behind him now: Yeah, for now. I think you can never predict what can happen, but I can be happy about being back. Just taking it one day at a time.
On what point in the process he felt he could return to game action: The little break in the schedule that we had this week was huge. At this time of the year, it's really tough to get good practices. So this week was good both to get the other guys a little bit more rest and see some more reps.
On losing his stick for multiple minutes in the first period: It was a little too far and I was a little too tired to go and get it. I was happy that we iced it.
Brady Skjei
On his offense: I had a few good looks and capitalized on him. It was a big night and a big night for us.
On the explosion of his offensive game over the last two seasons: I think it's some confidence in myself in being able to produce like that and then obviously our coaching staff allows our defensemen to get up in the play and gives us the green light. So that's obviously nice as a defenseman that we're able to go whenever and our forwards do a great job of backing us up. It's been good.
On when the team knew Michael Bunting wasn't going to play: Right before the game.
On the situation: It's hard. It's definitely not normal. You go through it every year, but it's definitely a little different feel in the locker room going into a game like that when you see one of your teammates leave out of nowhere and you don't really know what's going on. I thought we did a good job of getting past it, didn't come out great, but our full game was pretty solid.
On getting through long shifts in the defensive zone: Just try to catch your breath. Basically, when you're stuck like that in the D-zone, you try to pack it in a little bit and try to keep everything to the outside because your legs aren't working like they usually do. We got stuck out there a few times, but Freddie obviously bailed us out a little bit tonight.
On Frederik Andersen's performance: Unreal. So happy for him. What he's gone through. We see him in here every day, working hard, and for him to come out and play the way he did, he was definitely the star of the game.
On Andersen being able to return to play: Yeah, crazy. I know that if what he was going through happened to me, it would be really tough to go through. The fact that he's back playing and playing solid... we're just obviously really happy that he's part of the team and back at full health.
On scoring off the stretch pass from Brett Pesce: I was screaming for it, but Pesce always has his head up. I got a step behind the guy and yelled for it and it was right on my stick. Can't say enough about Pesce and how good of a player he is.
On Jake Guentzel: I grew up playing with Jake in Minnesota in the summers. His dad was my college hockey coach at Minnesota, my defensive coach, so I know the family really well and Jake's an unbelievable guy and he's going to fit in great here and all the guys are going to love him.
On if that's official confirmation: I have no idea. You said it, I'm not sure. I guess. I don't know. ... Sorry if I spoiled that.