The Hurricanes went 1-1-0 over the past week. The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 Sunday night at Lenovo Center to get back into the win column. Sebastian Aho, William Carrier, Jordan Martinook and Jesperi Kotkaniemi all scored for Carolina while Dustin Tokarski made 27 saves in his first game back in the NHL in nearly two years [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/latest-news/veteran-goaltender-to-make-hurricanes-debut-tonight-against-columbus]. After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour, along with Tokarski, Martinook and Carrier spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rod Brind'Amour *Before his presser, NC Governor Roy Cooper announced that he had presented Brind'Amour with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/latest-news/rod-brindamour-awarded-north-carolinas-highest-civilian-honor] On the team's effort: I thought we were just solid. It wasn't spectacular. When you get ahead, I thought we played it right. I thought our goalie was great tonight. He subtly made a few really big saves, especially early when we had the six minutes to kill of penalties in the first period. There were a couple of really quality chances and he just allowed us to keep playing and not have to get off of our game. Then we get up by a couple and we were in pretty good shape. Overall... and I got to give credit to the Jordan Staal line. Just every shift was just on it. They obviously scored a big goal, but that kind of drove us tonight. On Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook being able to have their sons on the ice with them for the anthem: That's a neat moment for them to be able to take that picture. They'll look back at that whenever they're done or when their kids get older. It's a great moment so I'm glad we were able to do that. On Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis teaming up for a shorthanded goal: The penalty kill was great again tonight and they're a big part of it. That's the one thing. When they can turn the puck over, that's a great opportunity for them to do that and you've seen it a few times this year. That was, I think, a key part of the game, because we were obviously right in that six minutes of penalties. Kind of flipped the momentum early, which was nice. On Dustin Tokarski getting a shot after nearly two years out of the NHL: It's a great point. We understand how hard it is to get in this league and then to stay around. I didn't realize it had been that long. That's a testament to him to hang in there. I think he was almost out of it too at the start of this year. It's a great story. Hopefully it continues. It's a good start here. I'm happy for him and I know the guys were really happy for him too. On Tokarski's calmness in net: We all knew that coming in. Everybody knows of the player if you hadn't played with him somewhere down the line. The reputation was that, first of all, a class act, but steady and you could see that nothing really fazed him. He made some subtle puck touches behind the net too to our D. Little things that kind of go unnoticed, but that help to relieve the pressure and get us out of the zone. All around, I thought he was the difference tonight. On Tokarski's ability to just go in and play: [Goaltender coach Paul Schonfelder's] been... he's great. Our goalie coach is phenomenal. Has to deal with a lot and has over these years. But I think it goes more to that Tick's [Dustin Tokarski's nickname is Tick or Ticker] a pro. Been sitting out a long time and hadn't really played much at all. To get put in there probably wasn't the best for him, but he looked like he could handle it. Again, it says a lot about him. On Jesperi Kotkaniemi's goal: Oh, I loved seeing that. He's got a great wrister and slapper. He had a couple on the power play he let go tonight too. If we can get that play out of him, that's what we're looking for, for sure. That was a big goal. Kind of, I don't want to say put the game away, but certainly made it a lot easier. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dustin Tokarski On how he would sum up the past few months: It's been pretty wild, but it's been awesome, been fun. Grateful for Chicago and grateful to get here and happy to get the win today. On how he prepared for the game after so much time away from the NHL: Honestly, just like any other game, you know? That's the way you have to treat it, or at least for myself anyways. Just do the work that's gotten me to this point and try to translate it to the ice. Fortunately it did and guys played awesome in front of me. On if he likes seeing a few tough shots early: If I save them, yes, which I guess I did, so it depends. On the penalty kill: Excellent penalty killing today. There was a big four-minute one in the first there that I think set the tone for the game and let us get going. Lots of blocked shots. It was huge tonight. On what getting another opportunity means: I've just been going day-to-day for the last 30 days. I want to keep doing that, but like I said, grateful for the opportunity, grateful for the belief and I'm enjoying it. Can't complain one bit. On if having played for the organization before helped: Absolutely. Knowing the goalie coach here when I was in Charlotte was awesome. Paul's a great guy and a great goalie coach and I also met a few players here and there. So it definitely helps a lot. Great training staff as well with a few guys who transitioned from Charlotte to here that have been really nice to have here as well. On if he'll be transitioning out of his Buffalo Sabres styled gear: We'll see. It's all ordered but it's not here yet. Tough to change stuff when it's working, but I probably should sooner rather than later. On if he had considered hanging it up before he got the call from Chicago: You know, I tried to keep that out of the mind because I feel like if you start thinking that way, that's when it might come your way. I just started working back home, doing the process, working hard and waiting for an opportunity and fortunately the one came. On the way the team is willing to block shots: In the immediate moment, it's a wild scramble, but I've seen these guys play for a few games now and night in, night out, they compete like crazy. So I'm not surprised. Grateful and it's fun being part of a group that works that hard. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jordan Martinook On Jordan Staal breaking out the slapshot: I told him to start using it though. He had a beauty in Vegas and then that was an easy tip. He's gotta teach our D how to shoot like that. On if the review was just a hold-your-breath moment: Yeah, you're definitely holding your breath on that, especially when it feels like, I don't know, forever since I've scored. You're just hoping that one stays and I was happy it did. On if there was a little more fear going to the net-front after having been caught in an unpleasant area a few days earlier: Yeah, there is, there is. It was actually fun... well, not funny. Burzie almost took my chin out the last game the day it happened. But yeah, let's just not talk about it. Good thing I got kids. PG for all you out there. On the team rallying behind Dustin Tokarski: 100%. Western Canadian so I wasn't shocked that that was going to happen. We know how to breed them up there in Western Canada so I had full expectations on how Ticker was going to play. On the importance of coming out on the right foot tonight: Yeah. Obviously we've been trying to figure it out a little bit here. We'll have a good game then have an off game, so I feel like that one was more of how it looks and how we play. Everyone was pulling on the same rope. It's good to have those games and hopefully we can build off of that because we did a lot of good things. I'm sure we'll see it tomorrow and hopefully build and take it into Tuesday. On the penalty kill: Those were momentum builders. When you get them killed off, especially because your big guns aren't really out there, they're itching to get out there too. It builds a lot of momentum and just happy to get those killed. On the shorthanded goal: We go tire everybody out and they come out and reap the rewards. It's good for them. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- William Carrier On if the team was consciously thinking about Tokarski having been off for so long: No. I mean, he showed he was good in practice. He was kicking and he wouldn't get to start in the NHL for no reason. He was playing well and he's felling it right now. On what was going well for his line: Puck was just going in. We had a lot of scoring chances before they just weren't going in. Now they're finding ways to go in. Some big goals for the team. On setting the tone right off the start: We kind of did it all game. Just put puck behind them and get the game going. Get some shots on net. We call those playoff goals. They're just scrambles or in-front of the net rebounds. We'll try to get more of those. On his goal: I knew it was coming there. Marty had one in the first shift there with Jordo backdoor and I knew he was going to try to do it, just didn't know. Half the time you pick left, it goes right or you go right and it goes left. Thankfully this time it was a good pick. On the goaltender interference review: I have no clue to be honest with you. Because normally you can tell if you're in there and when I got to the bench, I knew right away it was a good goal. It's tough in today's game because they review a lot and you're never sure, but I didn't really touch him at all. On the penalty kill: PK was great. That four minutes was tough. You don't want to see that, but terrific job out there. Ticker was kicking. Your best player on the PK has to be your goalie and he was making big saves.
