The Carolina Hurricanes picked up their second-straight win for the moms as they defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-2 Thursday night at PNC Arena.
Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen and Jordan Staal all scored for Carolina, while Antti Raanta made 23 saves in the win.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Staal, Teravainen and Raanta spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On the back-to-back: You're really worried about, it was such a good effort last night, big game, travel, all the stuff that was involved and then I don't think we were great, but we got out ahead. Made a couple of nice plays. Kind of just hung around and that was good enough. Got to give guys credit because we made it count when we had our chances tonight and that's about it.
On facing a team with three rookies on the backend: It would have been. I felt like we didn't really do that tonight. We needed to get on them a little more because they were missing some guys, but like I said, it's tough when you get ahead and with the way they're playing where they're throwing long bombs all the way, everything's always going to the middle and deep, so you're a little hesitant to let someone get behind you and we were on our heels a little bit, but when you have a three-goal cushion, that's kind of what happens sometimes.
On the penalty kill's pressures: That's the goal. I don't know that it's much different than some, but it's... I don't want to give away too many secrets, but at the end of the day, all that stuff comes down to a willingness to dig in and make good reads and that's what they've been doing.
On the goaltending: That's the game. Especially in today's game. If you're playing great, you need them to just hold the fort down and if you're not, you need them to make some saves to give you a chance to get back in the game. That's what you saw these past two games.
On Jordan Staal breaking his goal drought: We know the effort's always there. He hasn't often gotten rewarded this year, but that ended up being a huge goal. It didn't put the game away but it gave us a nice cushion there. We obviously like to see everyone get rewarded, but especially a guy that works hard and does it right every night.
On the Staal goal: Really the play that's made is Skjei getting it off quickly. If you notice, it was a quick shot. They're a shot blocking team and they get in the lanes. It's a matter of getting it down there before they get in the lane and that's what really happened there and [Staal] made a nice tip.
On the importance of bump-up shifts following goals: It can be depending on how it goes. You don't want them to be important, that's the whole point. When you score, make sure nothing else happens. You'd love to get one, but let's get back to playing our game. Obviously we use [Staal] a lot in those situations.
On the moms trip: It's very special. It's kind of tough to put into words. Everyone knows when you play hockey as a kid, how much the parents put in. It's just a tough sport to play without help. Financially, time, sacrifices. They do for any sport, but especially with hockey with the travel and the things that go into it. It's nice that the guys can give a little payback to the parents that are here. I think it's just a special time. All the teams do it and we've done it for many years and it's a real special time.
On the fan support for Antti Raanta: Everyone loves [Raanta]. He's a great person. Obviously had a little struggle there with his game, but he looked good tonight and hopefully all that is behind him.
On not looking past Saturday's game: Good question. Tomorrow we're obviously doing nothing. Have the day off. But it's going to be a challenge in itself. It's just human nature. These guys have worked really hard here for a long time and it's like, a real break's coming, but we have a job to do and it's my job to make sure they're ready to go.
Jordan Staal
On having to wait on the ruling for his goal: That seems to be the way it's going this year, but obviously happy it went my way this time. It was nice to get on the score sheet and contribute that way and contribute for a big win.
On the goalless stretch: I know I'm not counted on for scoring goals around here, but it's always nice to have it go in the back of the net and contribute that way. Especially if you have a string of losses, it's always weighing on me. It's nice to get the win and get on the score sheet too and I hope I can build off that and have a good second half.
On the amount of energy the team had remaining for the third period: It was a great start. I think we were on it right away and obviously we started peeling off towards the end and started allowing too much gap. They're a very skilled team, a very quick team and they can make you pay quick. They had a good third, but we held on. Raanta played great and made some big saves and the boys were selling out too. Blocking shots and doing anything they could to find a way to get the win. It's always nice to have those leads and try to hold on if you can.
On the penalty kill: I think we're on the same page on when to pressure and when we just don't have the opportunity to. But a lot of it is just hard pressure. We're pretty hard on it and guys understand that when one guy goes, we're all going. We're trying to force them to make three or four really good passes if they want to get a scoring chance and tonight was no different. I think our D-corp is one of the best in the league and they're quick on the PK. The goalie always has to be your best penalty killer too so it was a good night for a PK.
On where they're looking to pressure: We pressure maybe a little different than most teams. We pressure up a lot and on the half-walls. It kind of exposes a lot of gaps, but our D are very quick and able to close those gaps quickly. It makes our PK that much more effective.
On having the moms in town: It's always nice to experience something like this and having them along for the ride of our day-to-day lives and share that with them. Just... I'm really just thanking them. There's no one in this room that would even remotely be here without their moms and what they've sacrificed for us. It's kind of nice to share this with them and the boys played really well in front of them.
On her being around for a quite a few trips over the years: She's not in double-digits yet like the old man, but she's working on it.
On keeping the moms here a bit longer: I know. I thought about changing her flight and not telling her, but she's got to take care of the old-man. He can only be away from her for so long.
Teuvo Teravainen
On getting back to scoring goals: Yep. Sometimes it goes that way, I guess.
On the last time he had scored in front of his mom before this trip: I don't know. She usually visits once a year and I feel like I always score when she's here.
On having his mom in town: It's nice of course. It's really big for the moms, but it's big for us too. Creating memories.
On if he and Sebastian Aho's mom are friends too: Well, yeah. Me and Sebastian have been here a long time so they've gotten to know each other good as well.
On the effort today following a big game the day before: We knew that it was going to be a tough back-to-back. Heavy night yesterday and a good game for us today. Just had to get us going again and I think we did a pretty good job. We were a little tired maybe at the end, but it was a good battle.
On the resiliency in back-to-backs: I think we've been okay. Just mentally hard. Just have to get yourself into the game again and into the mix. Just battle hard.
On creating positive momentum heading into the All-Star break: It's big, of course. Want to play good every game, especially with the break coming. We want to play good before that.
On pushing the pace with New Jersey having three rookie defensemen: You always try to look at who you're playing against. We tried to pressure them and try to make them make mistakes.
Antti Raanta
On getting the ovation from the fans with his mom in the crowd: Obviously sometimes when you've been there by yourself, your parents and family ask you how it feels, so it was great for my mom to be here and experience that. It's always special and you know that you did something right in the game to get that kind of ovation. That's why you play hockey. To battle through the game and hope to hear good words afterwards from the fans. That's all part of it and what makes it enjoyable.
On his mom coming from Finland: She came down a week ago so she's going to be spending a little time with us for three weeks. It's nice to have her here and obviously my kids love her. That also makes it a little bit easier for me and my wife, but it's always great to have family coming over.
On the effort in the back-to-back: That's pretty much been our thing since the Christmas break. I think we've been playing solid games and maybe haven't gotten the results we've wanted in a couple, but we've stuck with the game plan, came out really well and obviously the power play got us a goal and the penalty kill was huge again. Makes the goalies job easier when guys are dialed in and blocking shots and taking the sticks away. Makes it a little bit easier for me.
On the goaltending play picking back up: I can only control what I can do, but Spencer [Martin] came in and played really well yesterday and that was exactly what we needed yesterday. He did a great job and [Kochetkov] is probably coming back soon, so it's always good to have competition and whoever makes the saves will probably get the goal. That's part of being goalie, but you just control your stuff and whenever you get the chance to play, you try and be your best.
On saves in tight: Sometimes when you make that first save, you kind of take a little breather and then the second shot is already coming. You just try to keep your eyes on the puck and try to move your body wherever the puck is going and just battle through the rebounds. Guys were helping me a lot. There were a lot of bad rebounds were they came in and if I was able to make the second save, they bought in even more. That's how we play and that's why for a goalie, it's a little bit easier when you know guys are coming in and doing their best to help them out. You just try to make that first save and see what happens after that.
On building positive momentum heading into the All-Star break: Especially having had played a couple of really good teams back-to-back and getting two wins. It gives you confidence and shows you that you're right there and just getting better. The power play is keeping us in and winning us games, so I think it's just a really good confidence booster. We still have to lock in for one more game and put everything on the line there and then enjoy a little time off. It's a really good sign of how we've been playing the last month.