Apr 29, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho (20) scores the game winning goal in the second overtime against the New Jersey Devils in game five of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center. (James Guillory-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/84417cf7-c276-4308-aad1-558d4aae8a60.jpeg] Apr 29, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho (20) scores the game winning goal in the second overtime against the New Jersey Devils in game five of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center. (James Guillory-Imagn Images) The view from above of Sebastian Aho's game-winner. The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-4 in double overtime Tuesday night to advance to the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Sebastian Aho completed the comeback effort, netting the game-winner on a power play, but Carolina had to rally back from a 3-0 first-period deficit to force overtime in the first place. After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour, along with Jaccob Slavin, Andrei Svechnikov, Jackson Blake and Aho spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ROD BRIND'AMOUR On what he was hoping to see heading into the second period: Anything. We didn't even talk about the power play. We had to just reset. Trash that period and try to get back in the game. That was kind of the message. Let's see what can happen, let's see if we can close the gap, give us a chance and the guys did. Clearly. From that point on, it was exactly the way we needed to play. In overtime, it just kept getting better and better. It was one of those games were you've watched enough overtimes where you don't score, so you're like... But I give the guys so much credit because there's not many games that even when we don't play well, that we don't get back into a game. We find a way and that's what happened tonight. On if he ever considered pulling Pyotr Kochetkov: He has a real good ability, I think, to just move on. Changing the goalie at that point... it wasn't on him. I mean, everybody was junk. It could have been to wake the group up. Maybe if there was another one. But it wasn't on him. That's for sure. On Andrei Svechnikov elevating his game this postseason: I don't want to say we forgot what it was like. He went through a stretch there where he was just, 'Eh,' but now, it's like, there it is. That's the guy that we all love. He was firing pucks and just every shift that he was out there, I was like, 'They're going to get one,' and he did. After the first, that line especially I thought was really good. On special teams: The penalty kill gave up one, but it actually did a really good job. They just floated one in and then a tip right in front. I also thought the power play had its moments. We had a lot of good looks, good entries where we just missed. Obviously the 5v3 was executed perfectly. I thought that was good. The goal at the end was probably not the best of power plays with the way we kind of moved around, but we found a way. Proud of the group for digging in. It could have been easy to go, 'Well, it's 3-0, we have two more games we could play,' but they didn't. On Jacob Markstrom's game: He was making unbelievable saves. That was one of the better goaltending performances I've witnessed. He let in a few early that maybe he'd like to have back, but once he got dialed in, you're kind of thinking, 'Okay, it's going to have to bank off of somebody, because we're not beating him.' You tip your hat there because he was their best player for sure. On Andrei Svechnikov: We love the kid. Everybody does. I think he had, for him, a year that was maybe not great, but this is the time that really counts. If he can continue to do this, number one, it's going to be great for us, but also for him because he cares. He's a kid that cares about winning, but also contributing. He's clearly doing that. On winning a playoff round in seven straight years: It's what we try to hang our hat on. Being consistent. We want to do that. Obviously we want to win the whole thing, that's the goal, and it's extremely hard to do and everyone understands that. It's extremely hard to do if you're not healthy. We just played a team that was beat down and missing a lot of players. It's hard to win in the playoffs when you don't have your group. So it should look like that, in my opinion. In all the years where we've been coming up a little short, what's been the thing? We're missing guys. If we can stay healthy, I think we have a good opportunity and that's gonna be the whole key to this. On Jesperi Kotkaniemi's status: It's a big gash, but thankfully it was over the eye and not in the eye. On the handshake line: That was one of the most unique handshake lines that I've ever been in because there was just so many guys that were Hurricanes. It was nice to see them and actually be able to hug them. Hated them for the 10-day stretch here, but they were big parts of building what we've got going here. So that was kind of interesting. On Logan Stankoven: He's been a real welcome addition to this group. He's skilled, talented and I think he's just starting to get going. There's a lot more to his game because he's just a young kid. But we need that. We need contributions. We can't just be sitting here waiting for the top guys to make it happen. We need contributions everywhere and he's stepped in here and done a great job. On Jackson Blake: There's another kid. What more can you say about him? He was in college hockey last year and now he's sitting here on the top line and contributing. And he's earned every minute of it. Came in and just kept getting better and better and to me, was one of the better players in this series. Noticeable and again, a great addition for us. On if he takes time to enjoy winning a series: They know. You need to enjoy it. What more excitement can there be than to be a part of that? You want them to enjoy it, take it in and have the memories, but these guys know. They all said it in there, I didn't have to. Good, that's one down, now we have to go forward to the next one. I don't worry about that at all with this group about being satisfied. That's not going to happen. On the importance of ending out the series early: It's huge physically, but also mentally. Nobody, myself probably the number one guy, wants to get on a plane and go to Newark. The delays, we took two-and-a-half hours both ways. This was not something I wanted to do. I appreciate that we didn't have to. The mental break will be good, but the physical break too. Everybody's banged up, so hopefully a few extra days will help the group -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JACCOB SLAVIN On the biggest key to rallying: There was a lot of hockey left to be played when we were down 3-0 with 50 minutes to go still. So we just tried to put our next step forward and dig in and just take it one shift at a time and win the small battles. We came out for the second and obviously we were buzzing there. We dug in and that's what you've gotta do at this time of the year. On the feelings after the first overtime period: We were playing the right way, we were on top of them, we were hemming them in their zone, getting the opportunities. You can't change that. We came in, reset, and went back out there and did the same exact game and eventually it paid off. On the second period: It was fun, right? Got the crowd into it, the Caniacs were buzzing. There's momentum swings in games and obviously during the playoffs, it's really important to try and keep that momentum on your side. It was good for us to win that period and then just take it one period at a time. On the mentality to not pack it in and look ahead to Game 6: You could say that, but that's not our team, that's not the mindset that we like to have. We're a hard working team that's going to go out there and try to compete every shift. Roddy talks about it all the time. It's consistency. We're trying to stick to that. On winning their first multi-overtime game since 2019: That's a long time ago. It is what it is. You play the game hard and obviously it's always tough to lose in overtime, but it's a great feeling to win. On closing out the series on home ice: I think anytime you get a chance to close out a series, you want to do it. Whether that's on home ice or there, you're trying to win that game. The last one is the hardest one and obviously the Devils put up a good fight and played really hard. So it's never easy to close out a series, but I think it is always nice to do it in front of your fans. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANDREI SVECHNIKOV On the long game: Long time, but good thing we finished it, you know? On the rally: In the first period, the puck was just bouncing over our stick or something was happening. It just wasn't our game and then we just had the intermission and said, 'Let's be calm and play our game.' We came out hard, scored right away, some big goals, which was nice and then we just played our game. On elevating his game in this series: I had a good series, but I feel right now I'm just moving on. It's going to be a new series and I just have to continue doing what I have to do. It was lot of efforts from everyone, we played good and I'm glad we won this. On if he felt the ball start to get rolling after the first goal: To be honest, I was just worried about making the plays and playing our game. It was going to come. We knew that and we believed in each other and we believed in the group. We were losing 3-0, but we believed in each other and knew we were going to win. On what's been going right for the power play: I think we just got the plan in our head. We're moving the puck very well and trying to put the puck more at the net and be around the net and look for those rebounds and all that stuff. Great retrievals. But like I said, moving the puck and having a plan in our head. On building confidence on the man-advantage: Definitely. Once you score one goal, you feel the confidence and once you score two games, three games, you just hopefully don't stop. On the team's dominance in overtime: I think all game, we just kept on pressuring them. They were tired and at some point, they were going to get down and tired and we just continued to put the pressure on them, take the pucks and hit them. That's what the overtime was. Just us playing in their zone. On the penalty kill: At practice, it's so hard going against our penalty kill. There's nothing really to say other than we have the best penalty kill. Hopefully we'll continue to do that. On being a leaned upon goal scorer: Definitely all game. It doesn't matter what moment. Win or lose, you just have to carry that and put the pucks there and grind. On Pyotr Kochetkov: I didn't want to say a lot, but in the second period, I just came to him and said, 'Brother. I believe in you. You're the best goalie. Just put that in your head. Let's go.' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JACKSON BLAKE On the overtime dominance: We knew we needed a good start to start the overtime and obviously they were playing those top-four D pretty much the whole entire game. So if we could just get it behind them and get on our forecheck, that's kind of the way we play and the way we have success. I think we did a great job with that. Markstrom was standing on his head though. He made so many big saves there in the first overtime, but then when we got that power play, and Fishy put it home, it was one of the best feelings ever. I liked our overtime a lot. We dominated pretty much all of it for the most part. They had a couple of chances, but other than that, we were putting the puck behind them and playing really well. On scoring his first career playoff goal: Obviously it's always nice to do what you can to help the team. After Hallsy scored that first goal, the place just erupted. We came out so, so fast in the second period. Carrier did a great job to drive the net a little bit and pop off and I think he dragged off Bratt off a little bit and opened a lane for me. An unbelievable feeling, especially in that time of the game, to help us get rolling and get some momentum going. On the message in the locker room during the first intermission: There's not much you can really do about the past there. It is what it is. Obviously we didn't have a great start and they made their push and came ready and got three quick ones on us. But we pretty much said that we can't focus on that. Have to turn the page and focus on winning the next period. It was that simple. Everyone bought in. I think some teams would just pack it in and say, 'We're down 3-0 and we'd still have a 3-2 lead after this game,' but that's just not the way we are. I think it's really cool the way we won tonight. It was awesome. On his goal: Markstrom's obviously a great goalie, so he probably saw Carrier in the slot and was probably, I don't want to say cheating, but he knew that that was a potential option. Honestly, I kind of just shot it. I got pretty lucky honestly. It was a great job by Carrier and Jankowski to start it all. Definitely a little luck in that one though. On his family in attendance: My dad and my little sister were here. My sister made the decision last night to come out. She wanted to see a game. It's great to have family out here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEBASTIAN AHO On scoring the series clinching goal: It felt unreal. Just blacked out for a second there. Crowd goes nuts and guys are jumping up on you. It's unreal. A really good feeling. On what happened to turn the game around: We kind of talked about it a little bit in the room. We just needed to restart in a way there. Obviously a big goal by Hall or Stankoven got us going there and the crowd really picked up and we gained a lot of momentum and kind of took over the game after that. On Shayne Gostisbehere resetting the power play before the game-winner: I don't think that was necessarily anything we talked about before the power play that we were going to do that setup, but it was just kind of how it happened. We had a couple of looks there before that and shots and I think Blake and Svech won two battles in the corner to keep the play alive. Those are all big plays at the end of the day. If they clear it, it's a whole 'nother story. I liked our power play today. We were working hard and obviously got two big goals. On the power play success: We've scored some big goals in the series and you gain a little bit of confidence. I thought, even the ones we didn't score on, we were working and moving the puck and executing the plays. You're obviously not going to score every time, but I thought we were pretty dialed in in this series. On the handshake line with Brett Pesce: There's a lot of respect there both ways. He's our brother. We played here together for so many years. He's a really good friend of mine and obviously a great competitor and, in my opinion, one of the better players to play against. It was definitely kind of an emotional handshake, but it just showed we have a lot of respect for each other. On Jesperi Kotkaniemi drawing the call that ultimately decided the game: KK took one for the boys. I know he doesn't mind at all. He'll trade a few stitches in the corner of his eye to clinch a series. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Be sure to check out the Carolina Hurricanes 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Hub [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/latest-news/carolina-hurricanes-2025-stanley-cup-playoffs-hub] for all postseason stories! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stay updated with the most interesting Carolina Hurricanes stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwmeDfCA?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] to never miss a story.
