'I Thought We Needed A Little Energy There': Rod Brind'Amour, Taylor Hall, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Mikko Rantanen On Whalers Night Win

The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 Thursday night at Lenovo Center on Whalers Night.

Jordan Staal, Sebastian Aho, Mikko Rantanen, Taylor Hall and Seth Jarvis all tallied goals for the Hurricanes while Pyotr Kochetkov made 13 saves in net.

After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Rantanen, Hall and Jesperi Kotkaniemi spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:

Rod Brind'Amour

On the first period: I think so. Not even sure how that all came about, but I think it was good on him to do that. He answered the bell or whatever that transpired there. Then it was a great period and then a bad bounce at the end and they get a goal. That's what's kind of been happening for us a little bit, but thankfully we were up. We didn't have to chase that game. It was a great first period.

On getting back to the team's identity: First period, for sure. Then I think it's tough. Didn't love it the rest of the way, but I loved the defensive aspect of it. We were holding the puck for most of the night and just hounding it. That's really the key to it.

On Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall getting on the scoresheet: When you're settling in and there's so much expected, the only way you really feel like you're doing stuff is if you're contributing that way and they both did tonight in the win. I think that hopefully will ease their minds a little bit so they can free themselves up and go play.

On the power play: I thought the power play was good. I think we only had two in the first and then nothing for the rest of the game, but obviously that was a big goal at the time. That's what power plays really are. Obviously you need them, but the timing of them too and that was good to get us out ahead a little bit.

On the defensive effort: Both him and Jaccob [Slavin] were, I thought, just great tonight. With their sticks and just breaking up plays. I don't know what the shots ended up, maybe 10, 12, but that's a pretty good number. If you can do that, it says a lot about not just those two, but the D in general, I thought, had a good game.

On playing more direct hockey: Tonight we were, especially early, and that was the key. You look at a couple of the goals we got, it was in direct relation to that. You're just on top of them and then they turn it over a couple of times and you just have to make them pay at that point. That's kind of what happened. I mean, everyone is trying to play the same game and you just have to get to it.

On if he was satisfied with tonight's line combinations: Tonight obviously was an easy game to keep everybody together. Hopefully we'll get traction and everyone can settle in.

Taylor Hall

On getting his first goal as a Hurricane: It's always good. It's nice to contribute and get on the scoresheet, but it was more important for us to get a win and a win where we played pretty well for the majority of the game.

On if he feels he's getting settled more with the team: Yeah. I mean, there was a lot of road games to start. I think six of my first eight have been on the road so it's nice to be home and feel the energy. How this group plays on home ice is a really nice way to get acclimated to the hockey and the pace and the pressure that we play with. Just a good win overall. I think a lot of guys had some really good games.

On the first period: Whether we score or not, it's just about how we play and the habits that we have. Right off the drop of the puck, we had that. It's important for us to make do on this homestand and play well. We'll figure out the road after, but games like that are good for us to get going.

On the pass from Jack Roslovic: It was nice. He's a creative player and I read it well. I had a feeling he was going to look for that and I think he picked it out of the air with one hand too. He's a nifty player and an easy guy to play with. We've had a few shifts since I've been a Hurricane and it's a lot of fun.

On Whalers Night: It was great. The energy in this crowd is always there. It's always fun no matter what night of the week it is or who we're playing. I've been a visitor here many times and kind of felt, not just the hockey, but the crowd and everything is tough and it's overwhelming as a visiting player. But it was cool. Wearing the headbands in warmup, that was a fun little touch. I think the guys had a lot of fun with that. Just seeing all the jerseys in the crowd and we were at lunch today and there was a woman that came to the game from Connecticut. So there's a lot of Whalers fans that turn into Hurricanes fans and it made for a fun night.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi

On what led to his fight: Oh, I don't know. Just a quick decision, I guess. I thought we needed a little energy there. I don't know. I rarely start the game so I thought I might do something there. Got a little energy from that, got a good start to the game. Good to get a win again.

On when he decided to drop the gloves: During the anthem. Good to be back here. It's been awhile. The crowd was bumping a little bit, so I wanted to get that going.

On the new guys both getting on the score sheet: That was huge. It's been a long-time coming for those guys. A lot of chances every game. When they start falling in, I think there's a bunch coming. It's a good sign.

On the game being a confidence builder: I think it was the kind of game we wanted to have. Not giving much to them. I think through two periods they had ten shots or something. I think that's more like how we want to play. Get a lot of shots in their end and try to minimize what they get in our end. A good job with that.

Mikko Rantanen

On the first period: Obviously good job by KK to start the game and bury the guy there. Gave us a lot of energy and the building was rocking after that for a while. Just makes the game a lot easier when you score the first goal and especially if you can get three of the firsts. It's easier to play with the lead than to always chase the games which we had been doing lately. Gotta make a recipe out of that and try to replicate it.

On the power play converting: Yeah, it's been tough. We've created some chances. Last game, Fishy hit the post, so it's been kind of close, but now this time it was post and in, which was good. I think after you get one, you get a little confidence, hopefully, and get more chemistry and more confidence.

On the difference tonight versus the last few games: I think the start. The first period, we were chasing both games [in Canada]. Toronto was obviously 4-0 in the first period and so it's hard to come back against a good team. And then Montreal was kind of similar. 2-0 right away and teams defend well, so that's why it's big to get a lead. They have to open up their game a little bit and hopefully we can then get a couple more.

On Whalers Night: It was great. I love the jerseys. They're really nice and it was fun to wear them. Warmups were fun even though me and Blake were the only ones wearing helmets. So that was new for me, but it was fun. It was a great night.

On Andrei Svechnikov: He's a smart player, obviously very strong on the puck. He can score too as we've seen lately. If you get him a chance, he has a good shot. But he doesn't lose the puck very often because he's so strong 1-on-1 Those kinds of guys I have respect for and he's a good linemate because of that.

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