Blake ignites with two goals, Ehlers nets three points, and Bussi delivers key saves in the Hurricanes' dominant 6-3 victory.
The Carolina Hurricanes beatdown the Nashville Predators in a 6-3 whooping Saturday night at Lenovo Center.
Jackson Blake scored twice and Nikolaj Ehlers had a three-point outing, while Brandon Bussi stopped 19 shots in the win.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour, along with Ehlers, Bussi and Blake spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On Jackson Blake and his line getting back on the scoresheet: It's exactly what we had talked about. When you're creating offense, it's gonna come and tonight it kind of came all at once there. Blaker especially had a real solid game tonight. Obviously it took a couple of real good individual efforts to put us on the board. It was a weird game. We get ahead and then you just throw the last half of the game out, but I thought we were pretty good for half of the game.
On if Jackson Blake at this point is one of the most offensively creative players on the roster: Without a doubt. You don't even have to know hockey. If you watch him, he stands out almost every shift doing stuff. It's nice to see him get rewarded. He's really put in a good, solid 25 games or whatever we're at this year.
On Brandon Bussi's key saves early in the game: Every game, you're gonna need that. Like, very rarely will you just go through a game and not need a goalie to make a big save. That right there, the first period, there were a few and it would have been a different game if those go the other way. He stops them, we get a couple goals and now the game is kind of how it went. Timely saves are crucial and that's what he's been giving us.
On the power play success: Like I said last game, I thought the power play was good, we just didn't connect. Tonight, we knew the kind of kill they were gonna do is super, super aggressive and we kind of talked about that if you get five power plays and four of them might look crappy, but you know if you just keep sticking with it, you're going to get chances and that was kind of what happened. We had some good looks and we were able to score. Some of them didn't look so good, but that's what you get when you face a team that's really aggressive on the kill.
On the power plays: That was a real nice goal, the first one. I mean, I think there were four passes, which is exactly what you have to do against a kill like that. It's kind of what you talk about before the game. That's the execution part, which has kind of been lacking a little bit and it was dead on there.
On Alexander Nikishin's physicality: He's a big dude and that's part of the game. For him to be the player that we all want him to be, he has to bring that on a nightly basis and a shift-by-shift basis. He's got to bring that. That's good to see and have to keep improving on that.
On Nikishin handling himself well following the hit: It was a clean hit. It's different if it's a different type of hit. But that whole thing where you hit somebody and everyone jumps in is kind of... I get it if it's a dirty hit from behind or something, but he handled it perfectly.
Nikolaj Ehlers
On the game: The first and second periods were great, but the third... the start was okay and then the last 10-12 minutes were not how we're looking to play. We got a new game tomorrow.
On his line finally chasing in again: Obviously we're three guys that want to contribute with everything of course. I think we've still, at times, created a lot of chances, they just haven't gone in. But tonight... we knew it was gonna come at some point. I literally said that to Stank after the last game. So it was nice to score some goals again.
On the power play: We had a clearer plan today and we were able to execute in the beginning. After that, we created some stuff, but it wasn't the same. So obviously we still have some stuff to look at.
On the plan: My goal was just a 5-on-3. That one, you still have a plan for that, but it was kind of a... I wouldn't say broken play, but the lane opened up and I just skated right into a nice pass from Jarvy. But the first one, I thought we were finding the holes in the middle and we were able to get them running around a little bit.
On what Jackson Blake is doing well when he's on his game: Skating, holding onto pucks, making some good plays and shooting the puck as well. For myself, it's the same. When I shoot the puck, that's when I'm at my best. That's when you've got the speed. When you pass the puck up too much, that's when you stop skating and you start looking a little too much. I think when us three are able to have that shoot-first mentality, we're a pretty fast line and Blaker was pretty good at that tonight.
Brandon Bussi
On the game: Overall, a great start for us. That's how we want to start every game. I think that third period is a learning experience for us, but a win's a win so...
On Alexander Nikishin's first period hit on Matthew Wood setting a tone for the game: I think... don't do that with your head down. I don't know. Thankfully I can't be on the receiving end of many of those. He hits hard, plays the game hard and I think we really got some juice from that.
On those early saves dialing him in for the game: My job is to stop the puck as much as I can. Made enough early to get us some momentum and put the puck in the net. Third period, probably need to clean it up a little bit, but we built a big enough lead that it didn't matter.
On staying dialed into games: I mean, staying dialed in... our crowd's pretty juiced, so it's kind of fun to be a part of. But, again, my mentality is always the next shot. Kind of just staying with my process and it's been working.
On if he's feeding off of the crowd: I mean, whenever you're home, having an excited loud crowd, it fuels anyone. We're very lucky.
On his desperation saves: I watched some Marty Brodeur and Dominik Hasek highlights last night, so I was maybe a little too desperate tonight, but I think sometimes as a goalie, you just have to have a little extra battle, extra effort. I was fortunate to make some of those saves.
Jackson Blake
On if scoring tonight felt like getting a money off of his back: For sure. Obviously as a line, us three are known for being pretty skilled, I'd say, and when you're not providing offense for the team, it's kind of a mental struggle a little bit. Because every night you want to provide for and help the team win that way. We've had some really good games where we didn't get rewarded, so tonight was good for us all to get rewarded there.
On Taylor Hall's skate blade robbing him of a potential hat trick: Nah, it's all good. Just nice goal Hallsy, that's all I've gotta say.
On Nikolaj Ehlers: Obviously one of the better players in the league, I would say. I mean, that guy is so dynamic, so shifty with the puck and he's always looking for you. He can score goals for sure and you've seen him do it in Winnipeg and you're seeing it here too in Carolina. He's a really fun guy to play with.
On the power play: I mean, it's obviously always good when you score. I think we knew that they were gonna be pretty aggressive on their kill and I think you just have to find a way to break that and using the guy in the middle, I think we did a pretty good job of doing that tonight. Obviously getting those goals was huge. I think we could even generate more as a power play though and be better, but I mean, you can't complain when you're scoring. I liked it tonight.
On Alexander Nikishin's first period hit on Matthew Wood setting a tone for the game: I think that's why a lot of guys do that stuff because it's such a momentum shift. Like a big hit and the crowd goes nuts. You hear that and you feel it and it kind of builds momentum. To then get those power plays, especially the 5-on-3, like that's the difference right there between the game. If we don't score those power play goals, you never know what might happen. Maybe it's 4-3 and they pull their goalie. So it's so important every night to just not be complacent on the power play and find a way to score goals and help the team win.
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