The Carolina Hurricanes pulled out a 3-2 win against the Boston Bruins Wednesday night at TD Garden.
Martin Necas, Teuvo Teravainen and Jordan Martinook all tallied goals while Spencer Martin stopped 25 shots in his Hurricanes debut.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Necas and Martinook spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On the game: You knew that it was going to be a tight game. I think they were probably a little off and we were playing pretty good and not giving them a lot in the first two periods. You knew it was not going to be like that the whole game. I think the worst thing that could have happened for us was that they got one the first shift of the third and then they got momentum. But I give our guys credit. We had to kill a penalty with five minutes to go and you could just see that the effort was just amazing. It was a hard-fought game. We needed the points more than them, so that's good.
On the importance of special teams: It always is when you play these guys because their 5v5 game, they don't give you much. It always seems to come down to that. It has in the past and the playoffs it's always the power play. But we were able to kill the penalties which was huge and you don't often get power play goals against them, but to get two was obviously the difference.
On Spencer Martin: Great for him. He comes in to a tough spot and we throw him to the wolves, but he held his own and gave us a chance to win. Made a couple of crucial saves early and then a couple late obviously too. Good for him
Martin Necas
On the game: It was a good game. Kind of back and forth and then in the third, they pushed back. Obviously, they're a good team. Huge goal by [Martinook] and a big game by [Martin].
On special teams: [Their penalty kill] plays aggressive just like us. It was a good game by both of our special teams. Their power play could have gotten one or two. We kind of flipped the game with some big power play goals and got us going.
On the third period: They definitely had the momentum so it was good to slow the game down a little bit because they were buzzing and just take it back.
On the power play: Obviously we have a little confidence there. That's kind of the key of the power play. We've gotten used to playing with each other. The first power play has been good, scoring a lot of goals, so it's been good.
On the game being a measuring stick: Obviously they're the best team in our conference right now. It's always good to have games like this. It was a tight game and we were a little bit better tonight.
Jordan Martinook
On his game-winner: I just tried to shoot quick. Didn't really hit the spot I wanted to hit, but sometimes you catch the goalie off-guard and I feel like that's what I kind of did. Didn't really hit where I wanted to hit, but it doesn't matter, it went in.
On his emotions: Just excited, especially at the time of the game. We didn't really want to give up the lead going into the third, but it went in so that's all that matters.
On sticking with their game: We obviously maybe took two shifts off and they're a great team so you have to give them credit, but then I felt like for the rest of the period, we stuck with it. That was just a good period of hockey for both teams. I feel like it was probably fun to watch and it was just fun to be a part of, for sure.
On handling the momentum swings: Just out on the next shift and try and return the momentum. We've played in this building a lot over the last three or four years and in big moments too, so we know that this crowd can juice them up too a little bit. You just focus on your next shift and try and get the momentum back on your side and I feel like we did that pretty good for the most part.
On a measuring stick game: I think anytime you play Boston, they're usually good games and they're a great team and they've shown that for many years. Obviously you want to play the best teams and you want to beat the best teams. We'll take the win, move on and hopefully bring the same tomorrow night.