Svechnikov's hat trick and Andersen's stellar goaltending fueled a dominant win. Hear from the Hurricanes stars and coach on their key victory.
The Carolina Hurricanes swept their weekend back-to-back, defeating the New Jersey Devils 4-1 Saturday night at Prudential Center.
Frederik Andersen had one of his best games of the year, turning aside 29 shots and Andrei Svechnikov scored a hat trick in the win.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour, along with Andersen and Svechnikov spoke with the media in New Jersey. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On the game: Solid. Obviously we didn't start great and I was afraid of that after the kind of emotional game that we had. Took us a period to get going so coming out of that first period was really the key. Thought from then on, we played pretty solid.
On the top line starting off the scoring: They were kind of slow starting, then all of sudden, that's what they can do within a minute. All of a sudden we have a couple of opportunities and Svechy buried them. That was good to get our feet under us. After that, we were pretty solid.
On how Andrei Svechnikov's game has improved: I think he understands the importance of the overall game. It's not just about getting the goal and creating offense. There's another element to the game. He's constantly working on that and kind of understanding time and place of games and all that kind of stuff. I think he's matured in that area. Obviously we know he has a lot of talent.
On Frederik Andersen's game: Solid, especially early. We only had four shots in the first period and weren't really going and he allowed us to get to our game and that's really, at the end of the day, the difference.
On Nikolaj Ehlers playing with Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook: It's hard because you're always going to get a tough matchup no matter what, but I thought, again, he was really good. The other guys had quite a few opportunities because of the speed and the dynamic play of Ehlers. Hopefully that continues for us.
On the team defense: It's a big defense when 74 is in the lineup. We've missed him all year. Can't understate that. Suddenly, he goes in there and it seems like whenever he's on the ice, we're in good shape. It's a welcome addition to get him back in there.
On the penalty kill: It was good. They got kind of a weird one, kind of a lucky one. That's what I'm gonna chalk it up to. That was the difference. I think we only had one power play and with the talent they're throwing out there, you don't want to take penalties. I thought overall, we did a good job.
Frederik Andersen
On the game: I think we knew we had a little bit better [after the first period] and so I think we stuck with it and got to our game. Coming off of a pretty emotional night last night and a good win. The schedule's tough, so kudos to everyone for getting back up to it today and putting forth a really good effort.
On his game: I felt good. Nice to be out there for a nice win. A good weekend for us.
On if he felt the game turned following Andrei Svechnikov's second goal: I didn't really think about it. I just try to focus on my job throughout the game.
On the first period: It's obviously easier when we get kind of rolling in their end for everyone. Obviously that's what our goal is, to get out of our zone as quick as possible and put the stress on them. As the game went on, we were able to do that better and better. Again, you're going to have those ups and downs in a game and obviously it was nice to weather the storm and get to our game.
On if he feels the team has more confidence playing in New Jersey being all the success they've had as of late: I think we're just confident in each other. I don't think it matters where we play. We trust each other to play our brand of hockey and that's going to give us the best chance of winning games.
On the team's defense: We've had a D corps that's had a lot of ins and outs and guys shuffled around through different positions and lines and stuff. So there's been a lot of different asks of everyone and I think I'm really impressed with how pretty much everyone's been taking that in stride and just delivering what's been asked from them. That's really awesome.
On if this game is a good confidence boost for him: Yeah, winning's fun.
On Jaccob Slavin: I don't think it's a secret anymore. He's one of the best of the defensemen in the league and we're happy to have him back.
Andrei Svechnikov
On the team getting to its game in the second period: Obviously a back-to-back for us and we kind of weren't prepared. It's never easy to play here. It's always hard and they're always a good match. They have a great team here which is why they're in the playoffs every year, but we kind of know how to play against them. We got our system, so we just followed it.
On his physical play: Obviously I'm a pretty big boy, so I kind of have to use my body. When I do that, I create space for my linemates.
On Frederik Andersen: He played great. He saved us. They had a few chances and he kept us in the game. He played an amazing game tonight.
On his chemistry with Sebastian Aho: We've bene together for eight years. We've been playing on and off, but I feel like we have great chemistry together. We're always trying to go, go, go every time and I try to support him, he try to support me, but we've also got Jarvy. We're all good, all three of us.
On his lacrosse attempt for the hat trick: Just score a couple of goals so I had a little bit of confidence and I thought why not. I was behind the net, but he kind of knocked my stick. I felt like if the D wasn't there, maybe I had a good chance to score that one.
On if he was surprised his first shot on Jacob Markstrom went in: Not really. I think I was right in the slot and kind of had to shoot quickly. In my opinion, it was a pretty good shot underneath the glove.
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