Brind'Amour and Staal reflect on a flat performance, admitting the team sought an "easy one" and lacked necessary structure against the Blues.
The Carolina Hurricanes suffered their first shutout loss of the season Tuesday night, losing 3-0 to the St. Louis Blues.
Carolina had a strong start to the game, but continually tapered off as the Blues came on.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour and captain Jordan Staal spoke with the media in St. Louis. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On if the team was looking for an easy one: It was obvious. Right from the start, I knew we had no life. You could just see with how we were turning pucks over. That's not how we play and they capitalized. They played a good team game, structured, how they're supposed to and we were trying to do other things. Never works.
On if the back-to-back made it more difficult on the team: This is part of being a pro though. We've gone through this with other games too here this year where we've had these stretches of 3-in-4 with travel and kind of had the same result. This is where you have to buckle down a little more and not look the other way and we were looking for a different way to do things and this team is not able to do that.
On special teams: We stunk on all that. Again, that's part of it, part of sticking to the plan. We were kind of winging it at times. Obviously the first one, the shorty, it's just a turnover. You can't make that play and they capitalized, made a good play. To me, that's kind of what started the whole thing going the other way.
On the difference between Monday's game and Tuesday's: I felt great about that game even when we were down three because we were doing it right and we were really in control of the game. Tonight was a different story for, really, the whole game.
Jordan Staal
On the game: Obviously not great. I think we were looking for an easy one, really. It looked like we were just kind of looking to outscore them We'll get our few chances, we'll give them a couple and we'll see what happens kind of game. We weren't really ready to play that forechecking game, play that stress game we've been talking about. It looks like that. There wasn't a whole lot of spark from anyone throughout the lineup. Wasn't pretty.
On the difference in Monday's game versus Tuesday's: It's not easy to come back from a three-goal deficit in this league, but it happened the other night. You can't put yourself in that kind of hole consistently. We have to do a better job with our starts and adjusting and in how we do things and how we play the game to kind of tilt it to our favor. It's all fun and games when you're down, trying to make plays. They're sitting back a little bit so you maybe get more chances, but for the most part, we didn't play good enough.
On special teams: The power play was no good. The PK, we had a pretty good chance going one way and then got beat going the other. Other than that, it was pretty solid. Power play didn't really generate a ton. A lot of ones and dones, I think. One shot and then they get it down. We had a tough time getting it back in their end as well. It wasn't enough staying pressure and good shots and retrievals.
Recent Articles
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
Stay updated with the most interesting Carolina Hurricanes stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.