The Canes beat the Devils 4-2 for their first win of the season.
The Carolina Hurricanes got their first win of the season, defeating the New Jersey Devils 4-2 Tuesday night at Lenovo Center.
The Canes got goals from Seth Jarvis, Shayne Gostisbehere, Jackson Blake and Sebastian Aho in the win and Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 23 of 25.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Blake, Gostisbehere and Jarvis spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On Jackson Blake's night: A lot of memories in that game for him. You love to see that. You kind of forget sometimes how emotional the game can be and how much it means. I said after, 'Nobody's going to remember this game but he will,' and it was a great moment for him.
On if the game checked all the boxes for him after what happened in Game 1: That was solid from start to finish. It was really the way we needed to play, need to play and are capable of against a real good team. So that was good to see.
On Jesperi Kotkaniemi's effort: On that goal specifically, he was the reason. The second effort and just kind of sticking with it. The things you mentioned too [his physicality]. A good shot and a pass by [Martin] Necas [on the goal].
On Pyotr Kochetkov: He was good. They had a lot of tricky ones and obviously they got the one nice one. I mean, just talent. Tip your hat. You're not going to do much about that. And then at 5-on-3, not much you can do there, but in between that, it was a bunch of good saves that maybe didn't seem that dangerous, but they were.
On Shayne Gostisbehere: I thought he looked really good tonight and [Sean Walker] has been steady for two games. Obviously we need everybody, but that's a big hole to fill that we had and they're looking good right now.
On Jackson Blake's: Ice time is kind of about matchups and what we're doing, but you're looking for ways to get him out there a little more. That line was doing well. It's a good solid game, like I said, for everybody.
On if he ever worries about Sebastian Aho bouncing back from a tough game: No, he's consistent. I'm not worried about him... ever.
Jackson Blake
On if his parents were still in town for Game 2: Unfortunately no, but they're watching from home.
On the emotions of the moment: I don't even remember it already. I pretty much blacked out after that. I saw [Dmitry Orlov] come give me a big hug. It was pretty special.
On the goal being the game winner too: It worked out perfectly.
On if it was how he imagined: I was just hoping it would come. I didn't care when or how. I just was hoping that it would just go in for me and thankfully tonight it did.
On his celly: I didn't even know what I was doing honestly. I just saw Orly and I went to him.
On what the team said to him after the game: [Brind'Amour] gave a speech after the game and said, '20 years down the road, you're going to remember this.' It's a pretty special feeling and he remembers his first too. That's something I'll never forget. A pretty special feeling.
On if he felt confident going into tonight: I think everyday I just get more comfortable. Realizing that I think I belong here in this league and I've got to show it every night. I think every day is a tryout. I felt pretty comfortable tonight and I think I'll just continue to feel that.
On if that confidence is the hardest thing to have at his age and at this level: Oh, 100%. I think that's the biggest thing. I think you have to have faith in yourself. Obviously it's hard sometimes when you see guys like Jack Hughes on the other side but you just have to remember that they're human too and you can be just as good as those guys.
On the response effort after the last game: Obviously last game, we kind of left with a little thing in our stomachs. We weren't very happy with that and tonight we all played with a chip on our shoulders. I think all four lines, every single defenseman and [Pyotr Kochetkov] in net were unreal. I think that's why we had success tonight.
On what he was thinking in the box when New Jersey scored to make it a one-goal game again: It's not fun, the walk of shame back to the bench there, but fortunately we killed the last part off and then [Sebastian Aho] was able to put that one into the back of the empty net. That one felt good. I was pretty pumped up on the bench.
Shayne Gostisbehere
On the game: When both teams have similar playing styles, it's going to be like that. A little feeling out process, especially in the first. They're coming off of a back-to-back so they were probably a little more tired than we were. It was just good to play our way, play our system and play it perfectly. Obviously we have to clean some things up, but that was what we could do out there.
On getting a win before a season-long road trip: It's massive. We have a lot of new guys in here, so just to buy into the system, do your thing and do anything you can to help the team. There's a lot of little things that won't show up on the scoresheet tonight. Big blocks, big backchecks. Little things that we notice and are what makes the system work.
On the win: It's huge. Especially when we came out kind of flat in the first one for our team. We knew we had better hockey in us and that was huge for us just to get out there and get two points before a big road trip and just get the first win of the year.
On Jackson Blake: It's awesome. Everyone's going to remember their first goal. Roddy said, we might not remember this game, but Blaker will for the rest of his life. Him and his family. It's all the hard work that everybody put in to get him to that point and to get the game-winning goal is pretty cool too.
On his goal: I just think we had sustained pressure down low that was really good. They really harped on us keeping tighter gaps and I was already down there. [Kotkaniemi] made a great play behind the net and found [Necas] and he found me. I was just trying to get the shot through and thankfully the goalie slid the other way.
On if there was a screen on his goal: I think it was their guy who was screening it more than anything. They kind of like slid together and I just pulled it around and shot it the other way.
On his comfortability with the system: Definitely being here before helps, but just playing games again, you really have to get used to it. It's a tough system in the sense that you're always moving your feet and I'm a good skater so it really helps me in the sense that I can really skate my way through the system.
Seth Jarvis
On Jackson Blake getting his first goal: Mine was definitely not as cool as his, but that was special. It's fun to watch guys live out their dream like that and you could tell by his celebration that he was pretty excited. So it was cool to watch him. Couldn't happen to a better guy.
On his rating for Blake's celebration: You know, I understand the emotions and excitement going through his body so I'll give him a pass. But probably a good 7/10. I liked the yell and the little blowby the teammates.
On watching the next wave of up and coming guys: I think I'm still on the one side. I'm not on the other side yet. But I mean, it's cool. I think the one big difference is that I can give a little more advice to him. I've been in that situation and I kind of know somewhat of what he's going through and how he's feeling. So if I can give any kind of support to him or help, that's what I want to do.
On the response: Honestly, a lot of it was just getting it deep early, especially with our lineup. We have guys like [Andrei Svechnikov] who can rumble with the best of them. As long as I was getting it to him early, just getting him going and getting myself and [Aho] going, I felt like we did a good job and then it was just a matter of time before we started capitalizing.
On his goal: A lot of frustration in that one from the shift prior, but like I said, just keeping it simple and getting to the net. Sometimes it works out.
On getting the win before the long road trip: Huge win at home. Nice to give our fans something to cheer about and remember. Just excited to kind of get going on the road.
On if he has a big brother relationship with Blake: No. I don't think he really comes to me for advice and I don't really blame him. I hope he knows I'm here whenever he needs me or whenever he needs some advice. Two different personalities so I think we see the world a little bit differently, but he's an awesome guy and someone that I hope I can help out and even if he doesn't need it, just knowing that I'm here for him is something that I hope he knows.
On his work ethic: He's got a lot more skill than I did. So it was a little bit different. He can really dance with the puck and make plays. Though work ethic is really number one, for him, I think it's just not losing that confidence in his abilities and I think that goal tonight is definitely going to help him.
On the energy in the building: Especially in the second and third when we kind of got rumbling around for a little while, you could kind of hear the building erupt and then killing off the second half of that 5-on-3 was big so it was just nice to get some momentum and energy in the building and I think the new guys really fed off of it.