Carolina’s leadership delivers a scathing self-assessment after a sluggish effort as defensive breakdowns led to a lopsided home defeat.
The Carolina Hurricanes stumbled out of the gate in their second game of the regular season, losing 5-2 to the Washington Capitals Friday night at Lenovo Center.
The Hurricanes were outworked for most of the night and the goaltending didn't do them any favors either.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Jordan Staal, Sean Walker and Logan Stankoven spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On if there's any positives to pull out of the game: There's not a lot of positives in that game. The start was not good. Get behind the 8-ball with kind of a freebie. You can't give good teams free goals and I thought we gave two of those up tonight. Like I said, you just can't do that.
On the team having lethargic starts: Yeah. I mean, the other night we didn't get behind, but it was the same kind of thing. I just think we have a couple of guys who need to get their game up. When we have 20 guys rolling, we're a good team. When we don't, it's too hard.
On if he's surprised that his team, that has so much continuity and knows what it takes to win, was outworked: I knew we were going to go through a little bit of this and you have to remember that these were two really good teams we just played. So they're not going to let you off the hook at all if you're not at the top of your game. That's what you saw here tonight, that's for sure.
On if he feels the team needs to callup some of the younger guys to shake things up: That's a management decision. Obviously if we keep going like this, we're going to need to do something, but we're more than capable with the guys we have here to play better than that. That's what we have to focus on.
On Brandon Bussi giving up a couple of tough goals: We have to be able to bail him out. Obviously there were a couple you'd like to have back, but I don't think that would have even mattered tonight. We have to come out with a little more urgency.
On if he thinks he might stick with the line changes he made in the second period: No. That was just trying something to shake it up.
Jordan Staal
On if they can take any positives out of the game: I don't think there was a ton of positives tonight. We got outplayed and outmatched in our own building. We obviously have to step up to a man. From myself all the way down. Just have to be a little bit better. We need everyone.
On if he can pinpoint anything: We were getting outplayed a ton. We weren't playing our style of playing in their end and getting those shots and those bounces. I think the stress was on us a lot more than we wanted and it showed.
On a potential Stanley Cup hangover: I'd say we laid an egg in Game 2. Fortunately we play tomorrow and we're looking to turn it around.
On the struggles in transition: I don't know. We had some opportunities as well and I thought the game was somewhat... it was quick, but I don't think it was anything we weren't surprised by. We were just outplayed and outworked. As for our game and our style, we just didn't execute well.
On having a bit more of a push in the third period: That's usually how it kind of rolls. I can't say that if we were up 5-1 we'd like to change much, but sometimes you get a little more zone time, a little more shots and opportunities. For the most part, in the first, the game was won there and we know we have to have a better start.
Sean Walker
On Washington giving it to them early: Yep. They did. They came ready to play. Outworked us there. I also think we're also not playing exactly how we need to right now as a group. We have to get back to that.
On the transition chances they gave up: Again, I just think that when we're playing the way we want to play, it's a five-man unit and guys are on top of each other. There shouldn't be any room like that. Just little details we have to tighten up to get back to our game.
On if they can take any positives out of the game: I mean, I think there were maybe some times in the game where you could see a little bit of momentum where we were getting to our forecheck and playing in their zone a little bit more, but overall we have to do that every shift. We know the recipe and what works and I don't think we've truly gotten to that yet.
On not letting frustrations bleed over into tomorrow's game: That's part of being in the NHL with back-to-backs. We just have to forget about it and get back to our game. We'll watch some video, some little details we can do better. We're going to have a hungry team tomorrow and we're going to come out with our best.
On having the chance for a quick turnaround: I mean, I think that's the great thing about the NHL. You play a lot of games and back-to-backs are part of it. Especially coming off of a game you're not particularly happy with. We can get right back at it and hopefully have a better showing.
On a potential Stanley Cup hangover: I'd say that's a lazy narrative. I don't think it's really an excuse. Again, we know what's expected of us every night and we know we're going to get every team's best game. We have to come ready and definitely do a better job of that.
Logan Stankoven
On if there's any positives to take out of the game: It's hard. Like you said, we did start to find our game in the second half, but as we all know, you can't take a period or a period and a half off. I think we gave them some easy ones tonight. Just unacceptable on myself and everyone on our team tonight.
On being able to get right back at it tomorrow night: That's the nice thing about it. We have 82 more of these and we go again tomorrow night. It's a good wakeup call for us and hopefully we come ready to play tomorrow.
On the power play struggles: I think [we need to] have more of a shot first mentality. We can't play on the perimeter too much. I think we just need to look like we're attacking and generate down low. Then stuff up top and one timers will open up. I think that's something we can look at in video. Like you said, it's not good enough.
On the message in the room: We know this is far from our best. It is still early, so we need to keep on building here. It's not going to start with one guy. I think everyone needs to start pulling in the same direction. We just seem a little lethargic these last few games. I think we can clean some stuff up and just get back to the way we play.
On why the team has seemed lethargic: I don't know. It's a great question. I don't want to make excuses, but we just need to have a little more urgency in our game. I thought a couple of their goals to start, we gave them easy ones and you can't go down in a hole 3-0 after the first. It's just hard to climb out of that.
On if feels that maybe this team needs some new blood: I don't think so. Like you said, there's some great young guys down [in Chicago], but this is the team we won with. We're the best team in the world for a reason. It's a new year and we have to put that behind us in the past. Every night we have to expect the other team's best. We have a target on our back, so that's just the way it's going to be all year and we just have to step up to the plate.
On if going on the road can be a good reset: It's great to start at home, but we didn't take advantage of it. We're gonna have to go and battle on the road and scrape one out and show up tomorrow night.
Recent Articles
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.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
