The Carolina Hurricanes have gone streaking as they picked up their third straight win Saturday night in Toronto.
The Canes beat the Maple Leafs 3-2 with goals by Michael Bunting, Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho. Pyotr Kochetkov made 25 saves in the win.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Aho, Bunting and Jarvis spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On the key to the win: Our goalie. [Kochetkov] was great. Hate that that last one counted because it was such a great save, but he was the difference. He kept us in it and made some big saves. Obviously we were able to capitalize on the power play early. I don't know if we sat back, but we almost took it there because we weren't quite as aggressive as we needed to be in the third, but it was a gritty effort.
On what's been the difference in the power play as of late: I wish I could tell you. It's funny how that goes because you're doing the same things that you've been doing all year and nothing was working at some point and now all of a sudden they start going in. I don't really have the answer, but it's nice that we're getting some bounces and getting rewarded.
On the confidence Kochetkov's play instills in the group: You can't really measure it because we make some mistakes and he bails you out. Nobody is talking about the mistake anymore and you don't have to think about it. That's what goaltending does for you. He's been really good these last six, seven starts and you can see it in our record. It correlates. You get those saves and you're allowed to keep playing your game and not get frustrated and not get out of what you have to do. That's the key.
On Michael Bunting scoring against his former team: Anytime a guy comes and plays his old team, all the players want him to do well. It's just human nature. Whether he left on good terms, bad terms, it makes no difference. There's always that first game back. To score early was, I think, cool for him and the group. That's a nice little memory for him.
On if there's been any changes in Seth Jarvis' game: Not really. Everyone asked about him last year and he played really well last year, just nothing was going in. He got another breakaway tonight and didn't score, but he gets a lot of good opportunities and he's earned the ice time. I'm giving him tons and tons of opportunities. He's killing penalties for us, he's on the power play. It's well earned and I think he'll continue to grow as a player.
On Sebastian Aho: Again, nothing special or different, it's just that he's getting rewarded, but we need that. You look at all the good teams, their top guys have to be the top guys and he's starting to emerge and he's getting on the score sheet every night and that's what all the top guys do.
Sebastian Aho
On his recent production: Yeah this is definitely probably the best stretch of three games in my NHL career. I don't know if I had something going on like this even in juniors, but it's been good. it's nice to produce, but obviously winning three in a row. That's great.
On if he feels a different level of confidence right now: Definitely you have more confidence making plays and sometimes even more patience to let the game sort of happen for you. The power play's been good and a lot of points have come from the power play. Just try to keep it up.
On the game: Special teams were huge tonight. A couple of power play goals and, especially at the end, some good kills. They were huge. I don't think 5-on-5 was that bad, just two good teams going at it so there's not much out there, but yeah, a good game.
On if he was pleased with the team's defense: Yeah. They have some special players in that lineup so you have to have an awareness at all times and I think we did a pretty good job overall tonight.
On Seth Jarvis' energy: It's non-stop. He's a high-energy guy. A great guy to be around and obviously he brings a lot of energy for this locker room. He's been playing great too. Young guy, but already has taken big steps in his career and obviously killing in the first PK unit and starting with the first power play unit. Not a lot of guys of that age can carry that load. So he's a special player.
Michael Bunting
On scoring in his return to Toronto: Anytime you're able to get a quick goal, you build some confidence going into the game, but this one was special. Coming back home, back to the old team. I wanted to be an impact player right off the start and I felt like I did that.
On his tribute video: A couple of the boys on the Leafs texted me that there was a rumor and they said they weren't going to clap for me, but that was good. That was nice obviously to be recognized here. This is home and it was really special to put on that jersey every night. Gave a little salute to the fans as thanks and got a little bit of boos there which I appreciate. It was good.
On the difference in the team's turnaround: I think the Christmas break was good for us. We weren't where we wanted to be and it was kind of like a roller coaster up and down, up and down. I think we had a nice little reset there and we've come out of the break with three in a row so we just have to build off that momentum. We have confidence in this group and we always have. Just kind of wasn't going our way. I think we just keep build off of this.
On the game: There's a lot of firepower out there and you don't want to give them a lot of chances, so I thought we played a really good defensive game and we didn't give them much. Then we capitalized when we got the power play. Those were huge goals and we just kept building off of it.
On Seth Jarvis: Jarvy doesn't stop and it shows on the ice. I think he's just coming into his own here. This is his third year in the league and he's showing that he has confidence the more and more he plays and every game, he's battling out there. It doesn't matter that he may be more of a smaller guy, he isn't afraid to get in the corners, win battles and get to the net. He's been great for us all year.
Seth Jarvis
On his production bump this season: I don't know. I think puck luck. Last year, I got a lot of tough bounces and I wasn't finishing on the plays I should have. This year I'm doing a better job. I worked hard this summer on being more of a goal scorer, going back to my roots. I came up in juniors scoring goals, so it's something I like to do and something I'm having success with right now.
On his goal: Just a great play from everyone involved. Burns getting a quick up, [Aho] making a great play to ]Svechnikov] and then [Svechnikov] sauced me, couldn't have asked for a better pass, and then I just had to guide it home. I just wanted to make sure I didn't mess that up for everybody.
On the game: We did a good job staying above them and making it hard for them to get chances. Obviously they have so many skill players and it's tough to contain them, but I think we did a good job of minimizing their chances and just happy we won.
On the bounce back: I think we're just really desperate right now. We know how tight our division is and how everything can change so quickly, so we don't want to be on the outside looking in come playoff time. We're just trying to get as many points as we can right now and make sure we give ourselves the best chance possible.
On Sebastian Aho: I don't know, he kind of sucks so... He's playing really well right now. It's nice to see him. His head's kind of big right now, so I have to keep him humble. He's doing great. He's making plays all over the ice for us. Not only on the stat sheet, but the stuff he does away from the puck like on the penalty kill and everything like that. He's been really effective for us.
On his energy: It's natural. I have a lot of built up energy. We have a lot of old people on this team so I feel like they need my help. So it's fun to just get everyone going. I think everyone kind of depends on me to lighten the mood. I have trouble being serious sometimes which I think some of the older guys don't like, but I try my best to bring good and positive energy and just help the team out.
On which 'old guy' tell him to shut up the most: I could list almost everybody. Burnsy is one, Staalsy is one, Marty. I'm on a line with them and they tell me to shut up. It's fun. I hope they mean it lovingly, but eh, I don't really care.