The Carolina Hurricanes lost 4-2 to the Dallas Stars Tuesday night at American Airlines Center.
The Canes battled back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits with goals by Jordan Staal and Jesper Fast, but ultimately they couldn't find enough offense from their top guys.
Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 19 of 23 in the start.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Staal and Fast spoke with the media in Dallas. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On what was the difference in the game: Well, we gave up a couple of breakaways. A couple of really unfortunate bounces, I thought, in the neutral zone that led to them getting some odd-man rushes and they capitalized. We had some odd-man rushes in the first period and just passed it, passed it, passed it instead of just firing at the net. So that kind of put us behind the 8-ball a little bit, but I thought overall we had a really good game. We were doing a lot of good things and [Jake Oettinger] made some great saves down there on the on [Brett] Pesce with the chance to tie it up. So the bounces just weren't going our way tonight.
On getting to their game more tonight than the last few: It was probably the best game we've played in a while, but we weren't able to score enough. I thought we had one there... I don't know. I'm not going to get into that. But anyway, it's a tough game because we played hard and it just didn't go our way.
On what he was told by the officials on the Dallas challenge: You heard what they said. (Shrugs) That's the frustrating part because we've had it go the other way earlier in the year with the same kind of thing. Nobody really knows. That's the problem. We should just admit that we don't know what we're doing on that and we'll live with the calls. I think that I can live with it, it's just that its very inconsistent. That's the problem.
On getting ready for the back-to-back on Friday and Saturday: We knew that it was going to be a tough game tonight and when we hit Arizona, same thing. They're a team fighting to try and crawl in. Always play hard, especially at their home rink and then obviously you've got the next one playing the Stanley Cup champs.
Jordan Staal
On what the game came down to: I don't know. It was a good game. Obviously could have gone either way. We made a few mistakes and they made us pay. They did a good job of capitalizing on their opportunities and we were kind of looking for some breaks. Had some opportunities and good looks to tie it up and just came up short. Wasn't a terrible game, but wasn't our best. There were some mistakes out there and we gave them a few. Obviously the first one was a tough one for me too, but it was a good battle and a good game, but we have to find a way to get points.
On if the team was able to build up some more of their identity tonight: I thought we played a little better Hurricanes hockey. It was two good teams and we were starting to get to our game a little bit better, especially in the last two. Just skating a little better and moving the puck quicker, but just came up short tonight.
On Jake Oettinger: He's a big goalie and does a great job of stopping that first one and they do a great job boxing out and not giving you that greasy stuff around the net. He's obviously the back bone of the team, a good team, but all good goalies can't stop pucks if they can't see them and we didn't do a good enough job of getting in front of him tonight.
On regrouping mentally: We've got a big back-to-back coming up and it's just a matter of taking care of the body and the mind and obviously working on a few key things. For the guys with families, it's a little bit more rest probably than most. We'll take it and hopefully come back with a couple wins at the end of this road trip.
Jesper Fast
On what the game came down to: I don't know what to say right now. I think overall, we played a decent game. It was a tight game out there. Small details probably went in their favor, so just have to reload and get ready for the next game.
On building off his goal: You usually score goals around the net, so we have to find ways to get there. Lucky today that I had one. Just have to find ways to get pucks and bodies in there. A little good bounce.
On regrouping and moving forward: We'll probably have a small video meeting for this game and then just have to refocus and get ready for the next one. We know how to win and how we need to play. Nothing changes.