Goalie steals the show in a tight game. Hear from Brind'Amour, Bussi, and Hall as the Hurricanes snatch a win against Ottawa.
The Carolina Hurricanes came away with a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, despite getting outshot by nearly double.
Carolina struck often and early to build a lead and then Brandon Bussi did the rest at the other end, stopping 35 shots.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Bussi and Taylor Hall spoke with the media in Ottawa. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On the game: That was tough. You get out to an early lead and then it's just human nature a little bit to let off the gas and we let off of it the whole rest of the night. But our goalie won us the game. We'll take the two points and move on.
On Brandon Bussi: He's been getting better and better, which is great. Early, he was good, but now he seems to just be settling in. That's two points that he got for our group. Wasn't much else going on tonight. We need that when we don't have our best game. You need the goalie to come up big and he did.
On Taylor Hall: He's been really good, really, from the get go. It's an adjustment for him to come here and kind of, not take a lesser role, but we don't have a guy. Everyone just needs to contribute and everything we've asked him to do, he's done it. That was a big goal for us because it did give us a cushion.
On if he feels the team has been more dialed in over the last 10 games: Up until tonight. I mean, tonight was not good, but I think all the games up to that point, even the other night we didn't win, but we played well enough to win. Tonight, the goalie got us the two points and you need that.
Brandon Bussi
On the game: I think our group just finds a way to keep plugging away. Whether it's our best night or not. I thought our compete was really high. We know that Ottawa is very good at putting it behind you and being physical down low and so I think our D corps was really strong and battled really hard. The net-front battles are where games are kind of won or lost against them and it was a good effort.
On the team's support in front of him: I could see the puck. That's the most important thing. So really good box outs. And if I didn't see it, obviously it probably got blocked. Good effort by them.
Taylor Hall
On the game: Bussi was really good. I don't think they had a lot of second chances, like rebound opportunities, but he was really good on the first saves. For us, they're a good team. They've had some goaltending issues, but they carry play well and they play hard, finish checks all night. They made it hard on us and I don't know if it's the schedule or whatever, but we didn't have the energy to match it. But some nights you need to get bailed out. Some nights you win games you shouldn't. I feel like it all evens out in the end.
On Brandon Bussi: It's cool to see someone that really enjoys the game of hockey. Sometimes guys get called up and you can tell just by their preparation that they haven't been in the league for a long time. Bussi treats himself like a pro and like he's been around for a while. The way he talks and conducts himself, I think he's been ready for this. That's been cool to see. I think he enjoys every day, which is awesome to be around.
On the team starting to get on a roll: We've been going well. I think sometime after the new year, we've kind of had a couple meetings where it's just like, we've gotten away from the way we need to play and we straightened it out, but it was only for a couple of games at a time. Then finally, after the new year, I'd probably say like 10 games ago, we've just been dialed in how we need to do things, how we need to play. Tonight wasn't the best example of that, but for the most part, all four lines, if you look at the video, are playing the same way, with the same intensity and with the same attention to detail. That wins in this league, especially as the games pile up and you have less and less practice time. The way that you play as a team is very important.
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