The Carolina Hurricanes came up short against the Dallas Stars, losing 2-1 Saturday night at PNC Arena.
Sebastian Aho scored the lone goal for Carolina while Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 14 of 16 in the loss.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Jordan Staal and Jaccob Slavin spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On Dallas' defending: That's what they do. They're a good team. We did the same. I don't know how many shots they had, didn't look, but after the first, it didn't feel like they generated much either. Just we didn't get any bounces and they made two real nice plays on the goals. Individual efforts. That was the difference.
On the team passing too much: Yeah. On the 3-on-1 we didn't get a shot, a breakaway, where Orlov did at least shoot, but missed the net on that one. We had a few chances, but not a ton, that's for sure. They did a real nice job of that, but I thought we did too. It was a hard-fought game, we just couldn't find it.
On if he has to say anything to guys who pass up grade-A chances: No. Everybody understands it. It happens quick out there. He's trying to slide it over for the one-timer and their guy made a nice play. It is what it is.
On Brent Burns hitting the crossbar: That's the game, exactly. Inches one way or the other. It certainly wasn't in our favor tonight.
On the officiating: It was a weird night on that. I thought the only penalty that was a real penalty was the last one. The other ones were not penalties in my opinion. Or if they were, they were pretty light and if they were, then there were certainly a couple the other way that should have been the same. That's the frustration in that game because our power play wasn't great tonight, but maybe we get another one or take one off their board, a little momentum change... Hopefully that stuff evens out although it's been a little strange in the last 10 games with how that's been going. But that wasn't the difference in the game.
On the penalty kill's success: Well, we're getting a lot of practice. It's unfortuante. I don't know if that's a positive or not.
On the game: We played hard. We played a great game. We held a team like that to 16 shots. I don't know how many scoring opportunities they had after the first period. That's pretty good, it's just that they got up and they're a good team. They blocked 20+ shots tonight and that's a good number for them. It was a hard-fought game it's just that there wasn't a lot of room and we didn't find it.
Jordan Staal
On the game: We took too many penalties. It took our momentum out. It was hard to get momentum and get sustained pressure. They're a good team. They make you pay, definitely. We made a couple of mistakes and it was in the back of our net. We can't make those. That was kind of the game. Trying to come back in this league is tricky and they played a good game.
On Dallas' defending: They play a simple game. They get pucks out however they can. Whether it's just hammering it up the wall or flipping it out, they do a good job of clearing the puck out of their own end and making sure they're not making mistakes. That's also our game. I don't think our forwards were as on it as we've been in the past and it looked like we were a little lethargic at times. I think the game for the most part could have gone either way still, just came up short tonight.
On lacking the same jump from Thursday: There wasn't quite the same jump. It's the NHL. We had a sold out crowd that was looking for a big game and obviously I think we disappointed them a little bit. We should have given however much more, including myself. But we'll regroup. We have a game tomorrow and we'll get right back at it.
On the team getting a bit too pass-happy: I think when we're down, the guys are looking for a few plays, but I would agree that there were definitely a few chances tonight that we could have let it go a little bit more and create more of those chaos chances that you guys are used to seeing. The fans were yelling 'shoot' probably one too many times tonight and it was rightfully so. I think we could have let a few more go.
On the penalty kill's success: The PK was good. I think we were starting to get momentum and then we took a few [penalties]. But the PK pulled through for us again and was really good to keep us in the game. We're going to try and keep that rolling and go from there.
Jaccob Slavin
On the game: It was tight and there wasn't a lot of room. Two good, high-caliber teams that play the game the right way just going at it.
On the penalty kill's success: Anytime we can kill penalties, it's huge, especially in a tight game like that. You let one up and it gives them the momentum, but the kill is continuing to play well. Kochetkov is a big part of that too. Goaltending is probably the most important part of the penalty kill, so to have that back there is nice.
On Dallas' defending: Good teams block shots. So there were probably a couple of opportunities where we could have shot the puck tonight and we didn't. We just have to get everything at the net.
On if the team was a bit too pass-happy: I think we need to shoot more.