The Carolina Hurricanes are one win away from the second round of the 2024 NHL Playoffs after defeating the New York Islanders 3-2 Thursday night at UBS Arena.
Brent Burns, Dmitry Orlov and Sebastian Aho all scored for Carolina while Frederik Andersen stopped 29 shots in the win.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Jordan Martinook spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On the game: I thought the first two periods were okay. They were fine and then we knew it was coming and that they were going to give it everything they had and that's exactly what happened, but obviously Freddie came up with a couple of huge saves and that's the difference in the game.
On winning on the road: We're a pretty good team at home or on the road. It's always a one game at a time mentality.
On Tony DeAngelo: I thought he was really... for a guy that hasn't played much, especially in the second half of the year and then in a big moment like tonight against an opponent that we knew was going to be coming, I thought he did a real good job.
On Frederik Andersen: Really the whole game, he was very, very sharp and obviously the difference in the game. That's kind of his demeanor. You can never really tell with him what kind of game it is if you just watch him and that's clearly big in these types of games.
On the Jordan Staal line: It's a very important line to us obviously. They just do it right. Hard to play against. Wish you could play them the whole game, but it doesn't work that way.
On his message going into the third period: Well it certainly wasn't... we didn't do it, that's for sure. It wasn't that, I'll tell you that. You knew they were going to have that desperate go. You don't want to play in your end, but that's what we ended up doing. We kind of came off of it. Playing with a lead is not as easy as people thing sometimes because you want to be aggressive, but at the same time, as soon as you don't, that's what happens. Just have to find that happy medium there.
On Andrei Svechnikov: He's an all-around player. He's getting better and better defensively too. I think he's always been a good passer, it's just that he overshadows it because you see him get some nice goals but he's an all-around player, no doubt.
On if anything changed with Ilya Sorokin getting the start: They have two elite goalies. That's really always one of the least things you worry about because it's hard enough to get it to the net let alone worry about who's in there.
On Seth Jarvis: We've talked a lot about him and deservedly so because he's had a really good year. You see how he plays. The moment never gets too big for him. He plays all situations for us and he's one of our go-to players. He's really matured here, this year especially, and I think there's still a lot of room to grow.
On Jesper Fast: He got checked out again and whatever the findings were, it doesn't look like he's going to be back. That's about all I can tell you. Not good news for us or him.
Frederik Andersen
On if the early shot volume helped him get settled into the game: I don't really think about that too much. I just try to stop the next one. That's really the only thing I can control and so my focus is that. In a game like this, there's a lot of time to stand there and think, so it's important to keep focused. Just the same approach no matter what the shot total is.
On his glove save on Alexander Romanov: I think I got clipped again on the heel and obviously that's really difficult to see behind yourself, but once you go down, you just try to battle still and see where the puck is. Obviously you have to see it to have a chance for it and I just tried to glove something. Those are fun saves.
On potentially closing out the series on Saturday: I don't think we worry about records and stuff like that. We want to come in and focus on what we can do to prepare for it and that's what we're going to do tomorrow and then in the game, try to play the same way we do every night. That's always going to put us in a good position to try and win. So again, my focus is just to stay present and enjoy it.
On how he felt playing three games in a row for the first time this season: I feel good.
On if he builds momentum on big saves like the one he had on Noah Dobson in the first period: I mean, you can take confidence from anything really. It can be a good push, it could be a good movement. You don't have to save the puck or get noted for a save. You can still do good things even though the puck doesn't make it to the net. You can take advantage of that and if you feel you don't have the confidence you have to try to get it back. But I just try to focus on the next one. I think that's really what matters especially in the playoffs. You saw it, I think we got down the ice and scored pretty shortly after and obviously that can be a big swing. You never really can take a breath. You just want to try and focus on the next save no matter what the score is. You never know like the other night. Obviously it took some time for us to come back, but eventually we trusted each other and worked for it and got rewarded.
On how he decompresses after games: I don't know if there's any other games tonight, but you just try to relax a little bit and watch some sports or do something like that to kind of get your mind off of your own games. Break down what you need to break down tomorrow and then try to move on. Take the good and move on.
On Dmitry Orlov: He's been great. It's a tough system to play and he's been just getting better and better every night. From Day 1, I think he's been awesome to play with and have in front of me. He's just got a ton of experience and he's had a great career so it's something we can use for sure and keep moving forward.
Jordan Martinook
On taking a 3-0 series lead: Every night we play, we're trying to win. It probably... it definitely wasn't as good as last game. Then we were down 3-0 at one point and tonight we were up two, but it just looked different. Obviously they were desperate. They were fighting as hard as they can and for us to be able to just hang in there and hold the lead there is big for us and to be able to get the win and go up 3-0 is big.
On being able to score early: We had spurts within the game where we were really good so I'm not discounting that, but you have to give them credit. They're fighting hard. For us to hang on and hunker down there defensively... obviously they're going to push as hard as they can and for us to withstand that and hold strong was big.
On Andrei Svechnikov: When Svech is on, he's one of the best power forwards in the league. When you don't have him, you miss him. He's holding onto pucks, he's big and strong and that takes a lot for guys to get him off the puck and then he skates like the wind. Whenever you have him in the lineup and he's going like he is we're the beneficiary of it because he's a great player.
On Frederik Andersen: That guy... I don't get impressed by him anymore just because he does it every night. I've said it before, I just don't think I've seen a goalie as calm as he is in the net. We could be under siege and he's making save after save but it just doesn't look like he's ever really breathing heavy. He probably is, he's a big boy. But the demeanor in the net helps us too. When he's in there and he's just sitting back, not moving much and making saves, you look back there and you're like, okay our guys in there and he's doing his thing now so let's pick it up a little bit and help him out.
On his save on Romanov: I think in the last five games, he's made about four of those. Even going back to St. Louis in the regular season. I don't know if he's trying to get in the SportsCenter Top 10 every night, we need to eliminate that, but he's been great for us.
Andrei Svechnikov
On his passing ability: I feel like I would rather take a pass to score a goal, to be honest, but I do like to make the plays. I always look for that and try to risk it sometimes, but obviously it was a great play. I was kind of a little bit patient and going to the wall and then made the play to Orlov and it was a great shot by him. Obviously [Aho] is a goal scorer and just what a shot.
On if he felt it was easier to enter through the neutral zone in Game 3 than the previous games: If you go back in those first two games, we kind of had to grind away to score goals there, but we had room in the neutral zone and we tried to make plays there and obviously look for guys and it was successful tonight.
On Frederik Andersen: Unbelievable. When there was three minutes left, he made that save. I don't know where he got the arm, but it was an unbelievable save. I don't even know what to say. Just so important. He's been the best player for us out there. We believe in him and have confidence.
On playing in front of the New York crowd: To be honest, we don't really think about it. But obviously when you play at home, you have that energy and the fans rooting for you, but we kind of try to not think about it and just play our game and focus on our game. Thank god we scored the first couple of goals. That was helping us for sure.
On having a chance to close out the series: Just play our game. That's what we do to be honest, all season long. We just play our game. Go on the forecheck hard and try to grind away them and make them tired and then they're going to make mistakes. We have talent in the locker room and that's how we score goals.
On the messaging from the team in the third period: We listen to Rod but I feel like we didn't really play our way, I guess, tonight. It just wasn't there. But we take the win and run away.
On being at the level he wants to be at: Definitely. It's a playoff game out there and obviously it was tough missing the playoffs last year. I don't want to do that anymore, but obviously it's fun to play in playoff games. It's just different. You kind of think different and prepare a little differently, but it's lots of fun to be in the playoffs.
On the locker room atmosphere: I feel like we have so much talent in the locker room and also we work so hard for each other and we try to win every game possible. That's just exciting. Obviously whenever you win, it's fun and we're going to continue doing that and that's what makes it such a good group.
On Dmitry Orlov: He's built for the playoffs. The way he plays from the first game to this game, he's been unbelievable. He plays a hard game and it's not easy to play against him. Whenever he has the puck, he's always taking those two steps and making it easy for forwards. I'm enjoying playing with him and like I said, he's built for the playoffs and he's going to be a beast in the playoffs.
On Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov: They've won Stanley Cups and they're older guys. That's why we got them. They're kind of our leaders . Obviously Guentzel is a little bit quieter but we follow him as a leader. He's always in first on the forecheck everywhere and [Kuznetsov] he's a little bit louder and it's fun to play with those guys. They make our locker room way better.
Dmitry Orlov
On having more minutes and responsibility with Brett Pesce out: I just try to focus on my game and whenever I have the chance to play, play hard and play smart. As a team, I think we can clean up some things. I don't think we've played perfect games yet, but it's good that we win. Now we get a rest and be ready for Game 4.
On Frederik Andersen: He's been good the whole series. Obviously that's huge in the playoff times. When you make a mistake, always he's the last guy that cannot make it, so obviously he's been good, but we need to help him out a lot and make sure he sees the puck.
On his goal: I mean I jumped up in the rush and Svech made a nice play. I tried to find a lane to shoot and kind of their own team screened the goalie. I hit the net and scored the goal so it was nice to get a goal for sure but more so that we got a win. The series isn't over. They played hard today and they're a desperate team and next game they're going to be even more desperate so we need to be ready from the start.
On if there's chatter on the bench when Ilya Sorokin gets pulled and Semyon Varlamov comes in: We're just focused on our game. We don't think about that. When a new goalie comes in you try probably to get some shots on net right away because he's not warm. I think everybody does that.