The Carolina Hurricanes now have points in five straight, defeating the defending Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights 6-3 Tuesday night at PNC Arena.
Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Staal, Jesperi Kotkanaiemi, Michael Bunting, Seth Jarvis and Brady Skjei all scored while Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 30 of 33.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Bunting, Kotkaniemi and Svechnikov spoke with the media. Here's what they has to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On special teams: [The power play] did a very good job. Penalty kill too. That's one of their strengths as a team, special teams. They have special players. We were able to win that tonight and that was obviously the difference in the game.
On Andrei Svechnikov: It's what we talked about before the game. You're missing this impact player, all year really. He came in and was still kind of getting going. I wasn't sure how he would look since he hadn't played, but he was impactful and that's what we were missing.
On Seth Jarvis: Competitive and he has a willingness to do what he has to do to be successful. Obviously he has a lot of talent and skill, but he's got a will too. We're seeing that every night.
On beating a team like Vegas: It wasn't like the score suggested. It was a tighter game than that. It's just nice to see us get rewarded. All year, pucks haven't been going in and tonight they did. I think it's good for the guys to just be like, 'Alright, I got rewarded tonight for what we've been doing.' We've been playing, I think, really well here lately, it's just been tough finding the net. It's something that we've been building on and something we have to continue obviously.
On Pyotr Kochetkov changing the complexity of games: Totally. That's the game. It comes down to your goalie has to be as good or better than the other. [And if so] you're going to win most nights. His last four games, he's been lights out which allows us to just keep playing our game whether we get goals or not. You can't say enough about him.
On the goaltending building the team's confidence: It allows you to just play confidently. He's not been a pleasant surprise, but it's been well-needed.
On guys snapping goal droughts: In this sport, you get graded on your stats a lot of the time. It doesn't mean you were playing poorly because you weren't scoring or sometimes you're scoring but you're not necessarily playing that great, but that's just how it always is. You hope that those guys who needed a goal, it boosted their game overall.
On Sebastian Aho's impact on the power play: Every power play starts the same. There's a faceoff and if you can start with possession, you get to run your set and get a chance right off the bat usually. We were able to do that tonight and that's him. That was a big part of it and the execution was high and Svech has a lot to do with that. But again, that part of the game is so important.
On if a game like this is a reminder to the team of what can happen when they stick to their style: They know that. It's pretty clear with a game like that. But these are the reminders. It's an easier sell when you get rewarded. The hard part is when you're doing it right like the other night and you only get one goal and end up losing. You don't feel good about it, but that's essentially the same game.
On Brady Skjei: He's been great all year. He's been great ever since he became a Hurricane. That goal was just all him. Gapping up and then winning the battle and ripping it in the net. I mean, that's pretty impressive.
On the Jordan Staal line: They get tough matchups every night and that was a a heck of a nice goal. You haven't seen that a lot. They haven't been rewarded for what they've done all year, but obviously a huge game out of them
Michael Bunting
On the game: We built momentum off the power play and obviously that's huge to go 3-for-3 on it. Anytime you can do that, you build momentum going into the game and keep rolling off of it. I thought it was a good game.
On Andrei Svechnikov's return: I thought Svechy had a great game back. He started off with that goal and a couple of big hits. His presence was noticed for sure.
On beating a team like Vegas: The road trip didn't go the way we wanted and we've just been trying to build momentum the last two games. We were able to get a point in each, but tonight we knew this was a big game. Those guys coming in are Stanley Cup Champions for a reason, so we knew it was going to be a hard fought game and I thought we responded well and pretty much came out of the gate pretty hot.
On Pyotr Kochetkov: [Kochetkov]'s been great for us. He's been solid, composed and I think every game that he plays, he's gaining momentum and confidence in the net.
On if this game can carry over: Just have to keep building off of it. We know what we need to do to succeed and have success. I thought we did well there and we just have to build off of it. We're going right back into it in Pittsburgh in a couple of days here and then another one. We want to finish off strong going into the Christmas break.
On the power play: Like I said, it's huge. Anytime your power play goes out there, even if you don't score, you want to gain momentum and create chances. Building momentum for the next line coming out. I thought obviously we did well, 3-for-3, and that's obviously a good thing.
On the penalty kill: The kill was great. Really good. They were solid and perfect as well. You can't ask for anything more from special teams on our end.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi
On snapping his goal drought: It was good. My grandparents flew in last night. They came to Montreal and I got sent down the same day, so they've never seen me play in the NHL. Felt good.
On working through the dry spell: It's hard to score if you don't shoot the puck that much, so just trying to rip the puck all the time and once in a while it winds up in.
On beating a team like Vegas: It was big. We've been looking for ways to bounce back all the time, so now was a good time. Everyone showed up tonight which was big for us.
On special teams: That's big always. The PP showed up and the PK needed to be tight there. That's a big part of the game so it's great that it was working.
On goaltending: We have confidence in the goalies. That's not been a problem this year. I think it's in the group. We haven't been at our level all year, so I think it's a good point to start again and be better.
On if he owes Jalen Chatfield anything for hitting him before scoring: Oh, no. He hits me enough in the practices, so he deserved that one.
Andrei Svechnikov
On if this felt more like a true return for him: You can say that, but whenever you score you've got that confidence. You feel way [better] on the ice and your body and shot feel [better]. That's about it to be honest. Last time I just didn't score, this time I scored.
On playing on his off-side: I don't really care, to be honest. Wherever coach puts me, I'm just going to do my job there. I don't say where I feel comfortable. I think both sides I can play there and that's what I've got to do.
On coming out with more energy: I guess. I pretty much didn't play for a year so I had to do that. I had some juice and was trying to make some plays. I hit some guys and it made it easier on the boys.
On getting the offense going: Like I said, it gave me a little confidence and the first goal is always important for the team. You feel the game right away. It was important for sure.
On feeling like his knee is improving: The knee feels light. I don't really think about it on the ice though. It's kind of an afterwards thing. I'm going to ice it and do all that stuff. It's fine, to be honest with you.
On Pyotr Kochetkov: Huge. The last couple of goals is on the players not on him, but he's been huge. Everyone sees that. Whenever he makes the save, the whole crowd is yelling. I think he loves it for sure.