Blake's shootout heroics sealed a comeback win. Hear from Jarvis, Brind'Amour, and the clutch scorer after a thrilling Philadelphia victory.
The Carolina Hurricanes overcame an early 2-0 deficit to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in a shootout Saturday night.
Nikolaj Ehlers, Alexander Nikishin and Seth Jarvis all scored for Carolina, while Jackson Blake scored the lone goal in the shootout. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 15 of 18 shots, but all four of the Flyers' shootout attempts.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Jarvis and Blake spoke with the media in Philadelphia. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On the game: That start was a little rough. Actually, we came out in the first five minutes pretty well. Jarvs had a breakaway there and then we kind of just let our guard down and they got a couple. I give the guys a lot of credit though because I think after that, in the second and third, I really liked our game. Had a lot of opportunities, didn't give up a ton and then had one, and they put it in the net, give them credit again for coming back, but I think overall, after that first, I liked the majority of that game.
On the team being pissed off after the first: Well, we knew we weren't doing it right and you just can't do that. It wasn't big things, but it was just all these little things and they were adding up. We then got on the right side of things and you could see slowly that our game started to, not take over, but it definitely impacted the game and we got the lead and everything. Walking away from here with two points.
On Pyotr Kochetkov: Goaltending... I mean... we talk about it all the time. It's been a real plus here lately, obviously, in all these close games. Can't say enough. The shootout, I mean, it's an extra point, but Kooch was phenomenal there against some real talented players. Helped the guys get that extra point.
On going with Jackson Blake in the shootout: You know what it is? I don't think he's scored in the shootout yet. He had not been very good, to be honest, but he's got courage. Like, he's got the ability that nothing fazes him. He could be 0-for-10 and he's gonna make a move and I feel like in those situations, you have to make moves. Goalies are too good. So you need guys that have that courage to be able, in bad ice, to make moves and obviously that was a nice goal.
On the decision-making process for selecting shooters: We always talk about it, but like I said, I don't know if our guys have the best percentages. So it's not really like some teams where it's pretty obvious who to go with. Sometimes we just go on a feel and that's basically what happened.
On Nikolaj Ehlers and his line: That was the best line for us. Like I said, we were a little flat and then they came out and got the goal and really all night, they were all around it, generating some good looks. We need that. We need up and down our lineup, we need different contributions and they've been really good lately.
Seth Jarvis
On the game: We didn't start the greatest. Our line gave up a couple there that we shouldn't give up and we know that. But to battle back like that was huge. We had our opportunities, but you lean on your skill in shootouts and Blaker made a hell of a move and Kooch, he's great in shootouts like you saw tonight.
On what flipped after the first period: I think we just felt a little pissed off. We knew we didn't like where the game was trending and we wanted to make a difference and change the momentum a little bit and I think that's what we did. Just started playing more simple, more direct and I think it resulted in us getting a little more zone time and creating some chances.
On his shootout attempts: I had no moves. I was out. I was like, "He's going to be looking for it." The bag's not very deep so I tried digging for something, couldn't find it. But I mean, I'm glad it worked once.
On Jackson Blake's shootout goal: That's something that only a few people can do and he pulled it off. I was yelling five-hole from the bench which was obviously wrong.
Jackson Blake
On the game: I thought it was good. I thought we played the third the same way we played the second and obviously Jarv had a huge goal there to give us one. They got one back on a little break, but we just stuck with it and no matter what happened in the third period there, we just stuck with our game and came out on top tonight.
On scoring his first shootout goal: Feels good. I was 0-for until tonight, so to get that one feels pretty good. Maybe got a little lucky with getting him to bite there, but happy it went in and happy we got the win off of that.
On his move: I kind of saw Jarv, I was scoping him out, especially on his goal, and then on his shootout move to see if he was biting a little bit and I think he did a little bit, but he's such a good goalie and stays so in front of you. So if you can just beat him quick, I think I got lucky on that one and pretty fortunate it went in.
On what's going through his mind on the bench: Obviously you always want to go in the shootout. It's so fun to go out in those and just go one-on-one against the goalie. I love doing that. Obviously I don't know though. We have so many good guys that you can throw out there, so I didn't know if I was gonna go or when I was gonna go, but happy that Roddy gave me another shot at it. Happy I got to execute this one.
On facing the Flyers again tomorrow: Just the way we started that second period and the way we finished the game is something we can build off of. Like I said earlier, our first period wasn't very good. Just the way that Roddy and Huffer kind of laid it out for us, just the way that makes our team successful and we know what it does. We have to be a little more simple and play the way we can. Hopefully just starting the next game like that and not waiting until the second period.
On his line: I think we're creating a lot. I think we're three pretty offensive guys and we're always trying to create offense for our group and do what we can to help sustain that offense and not be one and done. I think we're getting a lot of looks. I had so many looks tonight and I have to find a way to put them in. But I think if we're getting those looks and getting those opportunities, they'll come and so I like where we're at right now.
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