The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 Sunday evening at PNC Arena, thanks to a three-goal third period comeback.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Brady Skjei both found the back of the net to tie it up at two, and then Andrei Svechnikov rifled home his first of the year in the closing minutes to secure the win for Carolina.
After the game, head coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Svechnikov and Skjei spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On the game: It was exactly how we thought it was going to go as far as, they were going to block a lot of shots and they were gonna hunker down and wait for their opportunities. It didn't look good there for a while obviously. It was a couple of weird goals and it kind of felt like, 'Oh here we go. It's just not our night.' But I give the guys a lot of credit because there was no hanging our heads. Just kept playing and we got what we deserved tonight, for sure.
On Svechnikov finally breaking the ice: Big goal. We've all been asked about it and we were feeling for him because he's such... you just love the guy. He's a big part of our group and we need him to be doing that. That's exactly what he needs to do for us. Game's on the line and he buried it. He had a few other chances tonight too, just hopefully this gets him going.
On Brady Skjei: He's the guy that you don't hear much about. He gets overshadowed on this team. Without a doubt, he's a special player for us. No question.
On Pyotr Kochetkov: He made a couple... obviously, they didn't have a ton, but there was a couple of breakaways there and a couple of almost breakaways. Real grade-A, good opportunities. You can't fault him on the goals. Just two weird things that happened. I give him a lot of credit. That's what we need. If we get a goaltending performance like that every night, it will bode well for us.
On the process: There was not much more we could have done. Our power play looked good, we got a ton of opportunities. We were doing it the way we needed to do it and their goalie was making some unbelievable saves. [Necas] could of had at least two or three tonight. He was all over it. And they did what they do which was block a ton of shots and eat pucks and wait for their opportunities. I was happy, obviously with the win, but the way we played was good.
On the team taking zero penalties: It was kind of the way the game was. We were in the o-zone a lot and we had the puck so we shouldn't be taking penalties. We need to continue that.
On switching Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov: That was a pretty easy switch, but you could tell we needed a little something. I always give Jeff Daniels credit for that because I'm like, 'What do I gotta do here? We need to change something,' and he's like, 'We can try this. We can try that.' It was his suggestion and obviously it worked.
On Teuvo Teravainen: That line wasn't great. The Aho line was okay, but I'm like, 'We need that to be...' Made the switch and [Teravainen] made a great play to KK and obviously Svechnikov scored a big goal. Worked out.
Andrei Svechnikov
On if he's relieved to finally get his first goal of the season: Obviously it's kind of a relief, but I actually wasn't thinking at all about how I hadn't scored for a few games, 10 games or whatever. I knew it was going to come. Just about the time, and obviously it was the right timing and right moment. Huge win for us.
On the line change in the third period: Sometimes you just have to change lines to give some new energy. That's what happened today and it was successful.
On it being a response game: Roddy talked with us and we knew we had to come back. It was a tough loss for us, but we just played our game tonight and stuck to the plan. That's what happens.
On sticking to the game plan despite not getting the bounces: It is hard to stick to it, but it's the only thing we can do. Just sticking to it. They blocked so many shots and were staying in front of the net, but we just kept shooting to break them down.
On getting back to feeling like himself: It's going to give me some confidence, but I still feel... I know how I can play and I'm not there yet, but I know it's going to happen soon.
On the crowd's response: I love it. Over these nine months, it's been special. I just felt so much love and the guys have been unbelievable. Just been amazing for sure.
Brady Skjei
On getting the bounces: I think I got three tonight. Two off me for them and then I got one for us. Obviously, there's no quit in our game. We always play like that and it took till the last minute, but Svech got a huge goal for us. To get him going would be great.
On getting things pointed in the right direction: A win is a win. We'll take a win anyway possible. There's never really any panic on our bench and I think that's a huge strength of ours. Even tonight, down two, knowing that we can comeback and win. Any win we'll take right now. It was a good one and hopefully it will carry over.
On Pyotr Kochetkov: He was really good. He was solid. Confident. Calm. Made some great plays, some semi-breakaways, diving for that one. He was solid and kept us in the game.
On Andrei Svechnikov: He's huge. He's such a force and a star in this league and a star for us. We know we can count on him night in and night out. Even if he's not scoring, he's bringing something to the table whether it's physicality or just the way he plays the game. He's huge for this team and everyone knows that. To get him going is huge.
On the process: We're always trying to get pucks to the net. It's a product of our forwards doing a good job of getting pucks to our D and we're obviously trying to get pucks in fast to the net. That's how we play. Get a bunch of shots and capitalize on chances.
On his goal: I was just trying to get lost out there a little bit. Confuse the other team. A little faceoff play in the o-zone and then I just tried to crash the net and get open. I'll take it for sure.
On his offensive production: I want to think I've always had it, just maybe it's coming out a little more now in this system and with the way we play. I feel like it suits my game with my skating. Obviously I'm getting rewarded right now, which is huge. Just trying to do whatever I can to help the team win.