Hurricanes collapse again, blowing a lead. Staal, Blake, and Brind'Amour dissect the disheartening third-period implosion and a creeping confidence crisis.
The Carolina Hurricanes once again blew a multi-goal lead for the third straight game, this time losing 5-2 to the Florida Panthers Tuesday night in Raleigh after leading 2-0 after 40 minutes.
The Canes were in total control of the game, but one bad bounce and all of a sudden, they folded.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Jordan Staal and Jackson Blake spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On the game: It's tough. We were playing really well, considering what we've been going through, and then they get one and we just kind of, I don't know what the right mindset is, but we just tried to do things differently than we were doing them and it clearly doesn't work. We made a few errors. I call them young mistakes, guys that are out there probably playing above where they should be based on the situations and made some errors. Good teams make you pay and that's kind of what happened.
On the team lacking confidence: You can see it. It's crept it. We've never had that issue ever. Now, you can see it. We've gotten some bad results here and we just stopped playing. You sit back or you stop making the plays we were making, skating, everything just slowed down for us and that was not the way we needed to handle that.
On if he worries at all about Frederik Andersen's confidence given his situation: I worry about all the guys. I mean, like I said, we played a great two periods of hockey and then we didn't and it went the other way real quick. He was part of it. Not putting the blame on him. I really could go down the list. There was quite a few guys that just stopped playing the right way. Hopefully the lesson sinks in. We've been talking about it for a couple of games now. It's kind of crept in again and again. We've gotta stick with it and it's hard. We were playing extremely hard and we take a little breath and all of a sudden, that's what can happen. We're not good enough to just not play that way and I think that's the message that will hopefully get across. If we try to do it a little differently, that's what ends up happening. That's what's been happening in these last couple of games.
On if the fix is as simple as the team sticking with their style: You have to do what gets you success and not come off of it. That's part of it. Look, we're also dinged up. We're putting guys in situations and playing them in situations we shouldn't be, but we're forced to. You can see that they're hanging in there, but they're kind of playing above their pay grade in essence right now. Putting them out there when maybe we wouldn't. That's not a good recipe either.
On Jackson Blake's turnovers: He's our playmaker. There's certain guys you have to give leeway to, but there also has to be an understanding of the time of the game and how the game is being played, your opponent and how that works. That's all a learning curve. Nikishin had the same thing. He was going good and then there were some young mistakes. You could go down the list to be honest with you. That's all part of the process here.
On if the youth of the team is playing into its struggles: That's part of it. Like I said, we're putting them in situations you wouldn't normally put them because we've got some guys out. So you wouldn't have to throw them in those situations as much as we are. That's just how it is. They're learning on the fly here.
On Alexander Nikishin's status, who left early in the third period: I don't know. I don't have an update there.
Jordan Staal
On the game: I'm assuming what you guys all saw. It was a great first and second and then we didn't do anything very well in the third. We're up two goals and we're looking for the third, fourth, fifth, sixth. Like, I mean, against a team like that, you have to be content with moving the puck forward, getting in their end and just grinding them down and make them go the whole ice before they get a shot on net. I have to do a better job as a leader obviously. It's three in a row of that crap. It's gotta start with me and the other leaders in this room, we have to be better as a group playing with the lead and playing with some confidence in the third of just burying teams. We just sat back and turned pucks over and it just got uglier and uglier. Obviously it looked the way it did again.
On if the team is mentally fragile right now: I would say that's a part of it. Obviously they're a good team and you know they're going to come in the third. They have talent and they're going to make you pay as soon as you make a mistake. I think the guys shelled up a bit the last few times. It's hard, but man, we have to have some confidence in our group. I mean, our team is good. There's gotta be more confidence in the third to bury teams and just play the way we do. I mean, it's pretty simple. If we play our game, our style and keep moving north and playing in their end, it's just that much harder to score goals for them. We didn't do that.
On if the break is coming at a good time: Yeah, sure. I don't know. I don't want to sit on that for three days, to be honest. But gonna have to. We're gonna have to learn from it. We're gonna have to be better.
On moving forward as a group: It's 82 games. We're going to have to learn from this and honestly do what they did. That's the Stanley Cup Champion team and even they're missing guys, so there's no excuses. They consistently play their game. They looked shaky in the first, but they got to their game and they got going. They took over the game and put the puck in the net. We have to learn to just be consistent in what we do and be comfortable in that kind of game. It's just... man, I don't know.
Jackson Blake
On moving past his turnovers: Obviously there's a lot of plays in hockey that I wish I could go back and change, but you can't do that. I take accountability for those mistakes. I mean, gotta move on, right? It sucks that we lost and sucks that we gave up that lead. To give up five in the third is never what you want to do, especially against that team. I thought the first two periods were great too. Just little mistakes like that can cost you. It sucks and is a terrible feeling for me right now, but like I said, I have to move on. Can't let this one soak in and affect my confidence or anything like that because if I let that happen, then it's just going to keep happening. Just have to move on. This Christmas, I think that it's nice that it's right now. Kind of get away from it for a couple of days and then right back at it. Have to be better in those areas for sure.
On once again losing to Florida: I mean, I feel like we 've shown that we're right there. Up 3-0 last time and up 2-0 this time. I know speaking for myself as well, but we just have to find a way. We gotta find a way to close out that game and close out the one in Florida too. But like I said, I can't really say anything because it's the little mistakes like I made tonight that just totally cost us. Sucks, but I think it's good to see that at least we can... that's the team to beat, right? They've been to the Cup three years in a row. We just have to find a way to close out those games and me personally, close out those games as well.
On sitting on this game over the break: I don't know. I'm obviously going to think about it all night tonight and then a little bit tomorrow, but like I said, I have to move on. I have to have a quick mental reset a little bit and just spend some time with some family over the next couple of days and kind of clear my head a little bit. But like I said, it comes at a good time, but it kind of sucks that we can't just go play another one tomorrow. It sucks.
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