The Canes earned their first shutout of the season with a 4-0 win.
Spencer Martin and the Carolina Hurricanes took care of business Saturday night at Lenovo Center as they shutout the Ottawa Senators 4-0.
Carolina got goals from Jordan Martinook, Sebastian Aho, Jackson Blake and William Carrier and Martin stopped all 24 shots that he faced.
After the games, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Martin, Aho and Blake spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say.
Rod Brind'Amour
On Spencer Martin: He's played really well for us when we've called upon him. We talked earlier about how it's the most important position. That was a great game by him that enabled us to get the victory for sure. He made some big saves. There were a lot of really close calls. He saved us.
On the way Martin handled Brady Tkachuk's shenanigans: Listen, you understand what's going to happen. You know the league and you know how certain players are going to be around the net and all that stuff. You have to be a pro about it and he was unfazed. It was good on him. A great game for him.
On Jackson Blake's goal and his promotion to PP1: He probably should have a lot more. If you look at all the missed opportunities that we've had on the power play, he's had a bunch right there on the doorstep kind of similar to the one he scored. He's had a bunch of those where you're like, 'How did that not go in?' It's not just about getting rewarded, the other parts of his game have been good too. I guess that is why you reward him, but he's got the skill and talent and understanding to play that position and I think he'll get better as we move along.
On the 5-on-3 power play goal: We did that one right. It was a good play, good execution. Started with the faceoff. The key was that we said, 'Okay, we have eight seconds. We have to get something quick.' And we were able to do that. Power play got two. It wasn't great tonight. It might have been better the other night when we didn't get anything, but it's weird how it goes.
On bouncing back: I didn't see [the Utah game] as a terrible game. I didn't like the outcome and we had three minutes of bad hockey and it cost us the game. You just have to keep it real with the group. We came ready to play in that game and did a lot of really good things and I thought the same carried over into tonight. It was a tight game. It was right there. I though the first period was probably the key that got us ahead and we were able to, not really hang on, but certainly it wasn't a 4-0 game.
Spencer Martin
On earning his first career shutout: It's pretty cool. I mean, I'm more focused on winning games. I don't go in there looking for a shutout, but it's fun.
On flipping the puck at Tkachuk following one of his final saves: Yeah... I think I probably went too far there, but I was also riding off my emotions to play well tonight. It is what it is.
On how much he's thinking about a potential shutout in the final few minutes of the game: I mean, of course [the thought] is there, but they're a good team and they can pull the goalie if they make it two goals. I'm more so focused on making sure we win.
On if he feels his confidence and grow as he makes more difficult saves: No. I think when the team's rolling and playing in the other end, that's obviously the easiest, but when that does happen, you have to step up. I thought our crowd was really loud tonight when I was making some saves.
On having the opportunity to step up: I don't look at it as a tough situation because tougher would be me not being where I want to be. I really feel that it's meant to be that I get this chance and so in that case, I'm enjoying it and trying to do my best with it.
On staying calm while the other team is trying to get into his head: I think that's just being a competitor. I've found myself in situations like that before so it's really nothing, but you just have to use it for motivation.
Sebastian Aho
On his goal: It was good. A big win. Obviously scoring goals is always fun.
On Martin Necas' pass: It was a good pass. Kind of a different setup with the 5-on-3. Obviously there's more space and we just rolled into our set and it was a good pass and I'm glad I got some good wood on it and that it went in.
On special teams: The kill was good. Obviously Spence in the net for us was huge. That's the most important killer always. A good power play as well. A solid game.
On how much the team is thinking of helping Martin get the shutout toward the end: I mean, I thought they had a couple too many looks at the end. Obviously the game is kind of over but you want to make sure that he's getting his shutout after that kind of performance. He had to do it kind of by himself at the end there too. Just an awesome, awesome game by him and huge by him stepping in.
On Martin rising to the occasion: That's huge. Says a lot about the guy and it's great.
On bouncing back: After road trips, the first games back are a little tricky, but we took care of business here. It was a nice bounce back.
Jackson Blake
On the promotion to the first power play unit: Obviously with [Seth Jarvis] out, I think I just have to bring everything I can to the unit. I'm super fortunate, super grateful to be in that spot, but if I want to be there, I have to produce so happy to get that one tonight.
On hunting pucks: I think that's one thing you can control. If you're not hunting pucks, what are you doing out there, right? I feel like I really established that this year to really set the tone a little bit for me as a player. I think it's such a huge part. They call it the 50/50s. So hunting and winning those is a good thing for me.
On Andrei Svechnikov's net-front: There were like three guys and Svech there. He was batting at it and I was just like, 'Okay, maybe he's going to do something cool here,' but then it just popped out for me right there, so I was like, 'Okay, I'll take it.'
On what's been going well for his line: I think it's the hunt. Whether it's [Will Carrier] or [Tyson Jost], we're all hunting and then using our skill in the o-zone to kind of try and get opportunities. I think that's just the biggest thing, that we just work as hard as we can in the time we're out there and give it our all and make our plays in the o-zone.
On if he enjoys the chances to face top players like Brady Tkachuk: I don't know how much I like that, but I saw he was coming [at me] and I've been watching him for a lot of years so I knew he was going to try and hit me so I think that was the one where I just threw it low and then just tried to protect myself as much as I could. He's a big boy and I'm not the biggest boy. But like you said, playing against those guys is really cool.