The Carolina Hurricanes started their season off on the right foot, defeating the New Jersey Devils 6-3 Thursday night at Lenovo Center.
Taylor Hall scored the first goal of the season, K'Andre Miller scored twice in his Hurricanes debut and Seth Jarvis followed him up with two goals of his own.
After the game, the three players spoke with the media along with Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On sticking with the game despite seven shots off of posts: I loved the fact that we didn't hang our heads and even when they kept tying it up, we were playing pretty well and had plenty of chances. Just kept moving forward so it was a good first step, for sure.
On K'Andre Miller: I thought he was exceptional. Take the goals away even. Just impactful. And for a guy who hasn't played a game yet, like, he's been out for many months, he stepped right in and looked like he hadn't missed a beat. Obviously pretty excited to have him.
On what makes this team special: It's just the people. A lot of these guys have been here that long and we keep adding nice people around them and quality, quality individuals. That's what makes it fun to come to work everyday.
On Seth Jarvis sticking with it and redeeming himself for a goal against: That's what I mean about how they just kept going. And it wasn't really... it was one of those fluky things. He thought our defenseman was going to get the puck so he let up and then it just squirted through to the wrong guy. But I thought he had a great game, had a couple of posts too. It's a great start. I'm happy.
On if he got an explanation on the non-delay of game call: You did it... I don't know. They make up some rules sometimes. I get it, you don't want to put teams down 5-on-3, but obviously that's what happened there. But anyway, move on. I didn't get one.
On Taylor Hall checking his ego and taking on a lesser role in Carolina: Tonight, the penalties got going there and we had a to kill a couple and then the power play, the way that delay happened, I used the one unit the whole time, so he just didn't quite get into a rhythm, but I think, number one, he did that last year when he showed up. It was, "I know I'm just here to contribute in any way I can,' and I think he'll get his ice time, it was just the way the game went. I don't really look at it like a fourth line, you know how we do things, but everyone has to do their part.
On the new guys all getting points in their "first" games: There's some new blood in here and it's going to take some time to, I think, fully get going. Niki's the one that we probably more... I don't know what the word would be. Not concerned, but we're gonna have to give him more time, just because it's such a learning curve when you're thrown into an NHL game, and that was technically his first regular season game, when you're coming from a language barrier that's still very, very evident. But I thought he did great too.
On the first power play unit: They were good tonight, I don't know what happened. Didn't score. I mean, there was three or four where I thought it was in the net and just didn't happen. But again, that's going to take time to to kind of morph and hit on all cylinders, but they had some really good looks on each power play, and obviously we came through, not their unit, but with a big power play goal at the end.
On what allows the team to close out games so well: I don't know. Like I said, we just stuck with what was going on. There was never worry or anybody on the bench getting down. I thought everyone felt good about the game and the way we were playing. And what's the alternative? There's no other choice but the next shift. Always focus on your next shift.
K'Andre Miller
On his Hurricanes debut: Honestly, it was kind of weird. Obviously there was some adjustments and in-game stuff that I was trying to figure out on the go. Obviously I didn't have any preseason games so this was kind of my real first look with the team. I think once I got adjusted and up to speed again, the game felt great. It was fun.
On if he was surprised his first goal went in: Yeah, totally.
On the his immediate feelings after scoring: I always thought about just the noise and the atmosphere that the Canes fans bring. It's truly special and like I said, to be on the other side... it's just so special. You feel the energy in the building from shift to shift and it was amazing. I have nothing but great things to say. Obviously it was my first game, but it was amazing. I loved it.
On continuing to perform well throughout the season: I think you can take things from every game and do them a little bit better. I don't think our D-zone coverage was that great tonight, honestly, but I think we limited their chances well and didn't give them many scoring chances. I think that's kind of the name of the game.
On getting chemistry with Jalen Chatfield: I think that chemistry is just going to grow. Obviously got 60 minutes tonight, a couple of practices throughout the last week, but that chemistry is just going to grow.
On being able to produce right away: I think that was one of the biggest things, just making a good first impression. I think the guys have done an amazing job of just getting me caught up to speed and this adjustment period has honestly been very simple, very easy and all the guys are pushing me in the right direction. It's been great.
On closing out the game: There's 82 games in a season, but you can't take one night off. It's a great start and can only go up from here.
Seth Jarvis
On special teams: It was huge for the power play to get a goal, that's always nice, and special teams did really well again.
On K'Andre Miller's debut: Can't get much better than that. Two quite different goals there, but you could tell from the first time he stepped on the ice at practice and at training camp that he's a special player. He's also still young so I can only imagine what levels he's going to get to.
On if he felt like he was owed a goal after all the posts: Well I needed one after that Bratt goal. I owed the team back and I'm just happy. It doesn't always work out like that, but I'm happy I could get it back.
On closing out games: We pride ourselves on our third period and I think it has a lot to do with our conditioning. I think we're a very well conditioned team and by the time the third period rolls around, we can wear teams down just with how we play and I think it was pretty evident tonight. Obviously they kind of got back in the game, but we did a good job shutting them out after that and coming back with our own goals.
On Nikolaj Ehlers: I think it's working out really well. Obviously it's a work in progress and it's always going to take a little time, but I think, especially tonight, as the game went on, we started finding each other a little bit more. We started figuring out where individually we like to be in the offensive zone. I think once that gets going and the tendencies... I mean, he's just so special with the puck. If you can find him in open ice, good things are going to happen.
On the power play: I think tonight our power play did really well. We created a lot of chances and I think we had a lot of looks. We had a lot of motion. I think that's something maybe we've missed in the past and it's something that's taking over the NHL a little more. Not so many spots, but more options and more guys moving around makes it tough on the kill. I think bringing him in here really helps.
On replicating tonight's success: I think we just watch video tomorrow, obviously take all the good things and pick out the stuff we want to work on, but our game's been the same since I've gotten here and that's not gonna change. I think that's what has made us so successful.
On K'Andre Miller having his moment: It's awesome, you love to see that. Obviously two different goals, but two big goals at that. A guy like that is just going to keep getting better and I think everyone here is super excited about how he's gonna progress.
Taylor Hall
On playing a different role in Carolina: You try and not think about what line you're on or whatever and just try and be the best player I can be with the shifts I'm given. Probably every player on our team wants to play as much as they can, but we're such a deep team that has huge aspirations for late on this year and we're gonna need everyone. I love it here, love the guys, love how we're pushed by the coaching staff. It's a great win no matter how you spin it.
On what was going through his head after scoring the first goal: Not much, it was a good play off the faceoff. Robbie got in there and turned the puck [back] over, which is huge. Turns a shift where they have the puck and they're breaking out and whether we score on that or not, it's just a really good play. It's a route that we've talked about off of faceoffs, the guy coming off the wall might be alone in front and I was. I don't score a lot of deflection goals, tip goals, but I'll take any I can get.
On K'Andre Miller: Key was a beast. I think he's gonna fit in so well here with how we play and just with how he moves, the skill he has and the reach and the length, he's such an effective player that I think is going to do really well in our system and just with the players that we have.
On the mindset with all the posts that the team hit: It's more about the chances. There's different posts. Posts that hit and go toward the net and then there's posts that really are anticlimactic. We're looking to get as many chances as we can and sometimes posts are the way it goes, but it all evens out in the end, I think.
On creating mismatches with the team's depth: For a lot of my career, I was against top D-pairs and top lines and checking lines and all of that. A little bit different now and for us, we actually might get more offensive zone faceoffs because the guys that we're out against, especially at home, are going to be defensive players, maybe faceoff specialists. It's just the way it goes. You never know what to expect in a game and throughout a year, there's going to be a lot of different stuff that happens. But I'm happy to be here and excited to be with this group and see what we can do this year.
Recent Articles
Taylor Hall Scores First Goal of Carolina Hurricanes' 2025-26 Season
The Carolina Hurricanes came out of the gates jumping to open up their 2025-26 season and it didn't take them long before they found themselves on the board.
Hurricanes Team President Doug Warf Resigns
Hurricanes Massively Trim Down Training Camp Roster
Logan Stankoven Starting At Center To Open Hurricanes Training Camp
Oilers Sign Former Hurricanes Forward Jack Roslovic
Olympic Aspirations, New Teammates and Rising Stardom: A Q&A With Seth Jarvis
Rod Brind'Amour Gives Update On Pyotr Kochetkov
Stay updated with the most interesting Carolina Hurricanes stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.