The Carolina Hurricanes overcame two multi-goal deficits to ultimately defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in a shootout Saturday night.
Jordan Martinook, Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho all scored for Carolina while Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 36 of 40 shots, including all three he faced in the shootout.
Jake Guentzel scored the lone goal in the shootout to secure the win for his team.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Aho spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On the game: We had some good individual efforts, for sure. We gave them four goals. Giving up breakaways like that... that was not typical of the way we do it, but I give the guys a lot of credit. They obviously dug in and had a good finish obviously. Not the best way to do it, but we'll take the points. A great penalty kill too. I think that was really the key in the game for us.
On the changes on the power play: We needed to kind of change the momentum. Clearly we were down 3-0 after having given them basically three breakaways. That's the part that I'm a little but frustrated with, but then I thought we got to our game. [Jordan Martinook] had a big goal just to get us back on footing and then we ended period down one. Then right away, another breakaway on a bad change. Kind of weird play, but they capitalized. That's what these great teams do. You make a mistake and they make you pay and that's what they did. Again, we figured out a way to get back in it.
On Jake Guentzel: He's a great player and we know it. As you said, he took a penalty and he was probably going, 'Oh no. This is not what I wanted to do.' But then he finished it off for us. We know we have a great player there it's just going to take some time for these guys to just feel comfortable. I can just see they're still a tad hesitant and not quite sure what to do, but I think it will only get better.
On making a new teammate comfortable: I don't have to worry about that. We have a great room and they wanted these players. So they're going to do everything they can to make sure these guys feel good and get up to speed as quickly as possible.
On Teuvo Teravainen's status: We're hoping [he's back soon]. Not tomorrow, obviously, but we'll see on Tuesday. I don't think his is going to be long-term.
On having new players to throw into high-pressure situations: It's like Christmas, it's great. It's the first overtime we've had [with them] and all of a sudden I'm like, 'Wait a minute, I have some other options here.' So it's just great to have some extra guys you can throw out there and keep them fresh and keep it rolling. Same thing with the power play and at 6-on-5. I changed the whole group. I can put a whole new group out there and be like, 'Wait a minute, we have some pretty good players still out there. So that's a huge thing for us.
Sebastian Aho
On the game: Early in the second period wasn't the best moment for us. They're a very highly skilled team and they make you pay. Some of them were nice plays, but at the same time, we can't give them three breakaways. After that, Roddy pulled us together and [Staal's] line went after that and had a big shift and grabbed the momentum for us and I don't think we looked back after that. We kind of shuffled the lines a little bit and sometimes that gives a little spark. As a player, you're thinking that you have to be a little better if the coach has to shuffle the lines. I think it was a great response from us. You need these kinds of experiences moving on. You can lean on these moments.
On the group's mentality: We had like five power plays or something like that and we didn't score on the first three. We still stuck with it. We don't lose belief ever in ourselves. We're good players and there's a reason we're on the power play and all that. The power play got the one goal at the end of the second and then we scored two goals with extra skaters in the third period too. So that's huge. We try to work hard and figure each other out. The chances came to my stick and I was able to put them in.
On the new acquisitions: They've both been unreal. Great personalities. Both positive guys who work hard. We all know how great of a player [Guentzel] is. He's done it for many, many years and won a Cup. And [Kuznetsov] as well. The skillset he has, it doesn't really get much better than that. So I think the additions were really good and definitely have given a little life in the room. Having said that, I think we've been able to keep the work ethic and all that together. So I think that's a huge part too.
On helping the new guys fit in: Going to dinners and just getting to know them. These road trips actually help a lot. We spend a lot of time together and it's usually a very fun group to be a part of. If he has anything to ask, you try to help and more so just try to be there for him and just hang out. Make him comfortable.