Stankoven shines with two goals as Hurricanes secure eighth straight playoff berth. Hear from key players and coach Brind'Amour on the victory.
The Carolina Hurricanes clinched an eighth consecutive playoff berth Thursday night thanks to a 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Logan Stankoven led the way offensively with a two-goal night and the Hurricanes limited Columbus to just 10 total shots on goal in the win.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Stankoven, Sebastian Aho and Frederik Andersen spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On the game: It's all about what you give up and I also thought we had a really solid start. Once we got up by three, the game got a little bit iffy, but I like that, for the most part, we limited their opportunities. There were a couple that they could have capitalized on, but overall, I thought that part of the game was very good.
On if people take for granted how hard it is to make the playoffs at this point: Oh yeah. It's a huge accomplishment, but it gets watered down because from the start of training camp, everyone is talking about the playoffs. I know how hard it is to accomplish that. You have to be good for six months. You can't not be or otherwise, you see what's going on in this conference. It takes 100 points to make the playoffs. It's not our goal and everybody knows that. It's nobody's goal. But you can't get to that next phase if you don't play well for six months, which is harder than playing well for two months. It's not the most important, those two months we're going to get to are, but you have to get there. But the mental and physical grind every day to do that? It's a huge accomplishment.
On Alexander Nikishin's shorthanded goal: That had nothing to do with killing penalties. Scoring a goal, he jumped in there, has those instincts, he can shoot. You can't teach that stuff that he has. which is great. It's the other stuff that we're gonna keep hammering home so he can be that much better of a player. I think he's just scratching the surface. Once he becomes real comfortable with everything — the language, the style of play, the grind — I think the sky's the limit.
On Logan Stankoven: We talk about it with both he and Blaker. They don't shy away from anything and that's why they're successful. That's not the only reason, as they have the complete package, the talent, but they definitely have the drive to keep going and get in the dirty areas. That's what happened tonight.
On the season as a whole: It's a huge accomplishment and the guys should be proud of it. I wish they could feel better about it. I remember the days when we made the playoffs and how exciting it was. Like, it was so amazing. Now, it's just kind of an afterthought. That's because we raised the expectations around here. But, like I said, you can't even get the chance to do that if you don't play well for six months. So I give the guys a lot of credit for that. We know. We're turning the page here. We have to finish out the year hard and get across the finish line the best we can. Then we're looking forward to an opportunity to win the whole thing.
Logan Stankoven
On getting rewarded as of late: When you have tons of chances and they don't go in, it's frustrating, but on a night like this, it's nice to see the bounces go my way for once. I haven't changed anything, our line is still playing great and creating chances, being relentless on pucks, so it's nice to see a couple go in.
On limiting Columbus to just 10 shots: Our defense was tight and didn't give their forwards much space off of the rush. I think our team just did a good job of being to possess the puck down low and create chances. I think that's a big part of it, but Freddie made the saves when we needed him and we were able to pot some in, so that's great.
On shot blocking: Actually, the shift before, there were a couple of point shots where I happened to be the high guy on the defenseman and they happened to get through me, so I just tried to make sure the last one didn't get past me.
On taking on the second-line center role: I don't know if we've been the best line, but we try and provide secondary scoring when we can. Just making sure we're responsible in our own end and then I think all three of us have the creativity and hunger to play in the o-zone. I think that's brought us a lot of success.
On his second goal: Blaker was able to pull that puck our of the corner and made a nice play to Hallsy bringing it to the net. I've had chances in previous games to score and I wasn't able to, so when you're able to get a chance like that, you make sure it goes to the back of the net.
On being a net-front player: I think not being afraid to get in there, and it is hard at times with the bigger guys and a lot of D-men are taught to box out well, but I just try to get underneath and get good positioning first. Then you just hope the shot gets through and you never know what can happen.
On handling the frustrations of not being able to convert as often as he maybe should given the chances he gets: The hardest thing to do in the league is score goals. I think I've done all the work I can do to work on that after practices or shooting pucks in the summer and working on little things. So when it doesn't go in, it is frustrating, but you can't dwell on the past. There's nothing you can do to change what's happened. Just have to keep creating those chances and sure enough they'll go in.
On if clinching a playoff berth takes any pressure off the team: For me, no. I just try to approach every game the same way, try to contribute in a good way and finish off the season on a good note.
Sebastian Aho
On the game: Really good start. We definitely started on time and we got the lead there. That was pretty much the game. We never let them come back and so it was as good game and two big points to be able to clinch. That's great.
On eight straight playoff appearances: We've had some good teams and obviously every year is a different story. It doesn't matter if you made the last eight or missed the last eight, I think every year is a unique opportunity to do something great and that's obviously our goal. We'll do everything we can to make it happen.
On limiting Columbus to just 10 shots on goal: I think we were pretty smart with our puck management. We played behind their D a lot and went to work. Obviously the saves Freddie had to make for us, he was big. I thought our D corps were really good, gapped up and didn't give up too much. Just played our game.
On the power play being right where they want it heading into the postseason: Well, you want to score on every single power play, but no. Honestly, I think it helps to build some confidence with scoring some goals, but I think we've done a good job in the small details to be able to have those chances. There's always room to improve though and hopefully we can keep it going and be even better going down the stretch.
On Alexander Nikishin's shorthanded goal: Niki definitely has those offensive instincts and an unbelievable shot. Great play by him to not just chuck it away. Kind of took a second and if there's a chance to score off of the rush shorthanded, on the power play or even strength, that's go-time. Obviously nothing stupid there, but we'll take that chance and obviously good on him to put it in.
On Logan Stankoven: That whole line was buzzing. Obviously scoring two big goals got us going and basically won us the game. That line was definitely buzzing.
On picking up the win in Jordan Staal's 1,400th game: It feels good. That's a lot of hockey, but also the way he's played those 1,400 games as a true, professional leader and just an unbelievable teammate. I think the way he's done it is even more impressive than just getting there. But so happy for him. Glad we were able to win for him.
On Logan Stankoven's compete: It's not necessarily... he's strong on his feet, has good balance, he skates well. So that plays into it too. It doesn't matter what size you are. At the end of the day, it's your battle and he's been battling hard, especially in the last little while. He'll be a big player for us heading down the stretch.
Frederik Andersen
On the game: It was pretty impressive the way the guys came out and just dominated pretty much the whole game. I think from start to finish, obviously they came out a little bit strong in the second, but we kind of wrote it off and got right back on it. It was pretty cool to see just the way everyone bought in and didn't really think about anything but the next shift and putting it on them and making it hard for them all night.
On clinching a playoff berth: You have to get in. That's what we set out to do at the start of the year and we've done that. Now we have to keep working and look forward.
On the team: We have a lot of individual talent and a lot of good players, but I think what makes us special is the group and I think that's showed throughout the whole year. Just the way we play in and out and help each other out. Adversity is part of the game and we just kept going and stepped up for each other and kept working.
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