The Carolina Hurricanes dropped Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final, losing 5-2 to the Florida Panthers Tuesday night at Lenovo Center. The Canes just couldn't find enough finish, while the Panthers buried most of their chances. Sound familiar? After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Jordan Staal and Shayne Gostisbehere spoke with the media in Raleigh. Here's what they had to say: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ROD BRIND'AMOUR On if things started to unwind after the third goal against: I didn't really see it like that. I thought they got the two power play goals, that's really the difference in the game. We have to kill those. Got to give them credit. They get a chance, it's in the net. That's really what happened there. That was a great shot on the first one and then the second one was off the post and in. They play a heavy, hard game, but they can score. We gave them those with the two bad penalties we took really that we don't need to take that they ended up scoring on. We have to eliminate that and that would maybe take a couple off the board there and then maybe the game's a little different. I didn't hate our game tonight. It's going to be hard. It's going to go back and forth. I think we had our opportunities, early in the game too. We had a couple good opportunities, didn't capitalize. Then it went a different direction. On if he feels Jackson Blake is struggling at 5v5 with the playoff intensity: Everyone has it tough in this series. He's battling, scored a nice goal. He was right to the end. It's a learning experience for him for sure. On the team needing to convert more on their chances: We have to finish. They're too good a team. They're going to get theirs. Like I said, they have some real good, high-end scorers, so when you get your opportunities, it may not be many, I haven't looked at the scoring chances yet but I know we had a few, we have to find a way to put it by him. It's not really a secret here. That's what we have to do. On Scott Morrow having a tough game: It was a tough spot to throw him in. Injuries, I've said it over and over, if you lose key players, it's hard to win, especially at this time of year. Throwing in someone that hasn't had that experience or that you don't count on much, you're putting them in a tough spot. That's part of the game. On if he expects Jalen Chatfield to be back for Game 2: I don't know. I can't even tell you. I know he wants to play, but if he's not healthy enough, can't do it. On the game: They played a great game. Tip your hat, but we created a bunch of turnovers and had a couple of almosts. That's the game. They're doing it too. They're trying to forecheck us and probably put more pucks in than we did tonight. They put more stress on us than we did on them. That's how they play and that's why they're the best and we're trying to beat it. On the Sebastian Aho penalty in the first period: That's going to happen. It's the wrong call. At least should have been 50/50 there. Can't take a cross check to the face and not call it and then it leads to the first goal. That's going to happen. They're going to miss stuff. It's unfortunate because that ends up putting us behind the 8-ball. On the impact of Chatfield being out: It's a top-four D-man that logs a lot of minutes that we don't have a replacement for. That's going to hurt and now other guys are having to do a little more than we probably like them to do. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JORDAN STAAL On where the team can get better: There's little things that can be better. Special teams is always big. Kill hasn't let a couple in in a while and that hurt us tonight. I think the power play had some good looks, but we could always get one to help us get some momentum. They played a good game. We have to be better obviously against a good team. We'll learn from our mistakes and try to find some edges that we can have a better result. On if he felt the Panthers dominated them: I wouldn't say they dominated us. There were definitely some moments here and there on either side of the puck and they buried their chances when they had them. It's always nice to have a lead in this league and it always feels better to be in the lead obviously, but I think the game is still there. We have to be better, obviously, it wasn't like we were great, but we have an opportunity here and we're excited about the next one. On if there was anything unique about Florida's power play: The second one was a good shot from the point with a screen. I mean, there's not much there beyond us having to get in the lane and try to find a way to stop it. It was a good play. We just have to be a little better on the PK. Sharper. The first one too, I think we got a little mixed up between two guys there. A little hole, but he made a great shot to start them off. PK, for me personally, was a big one that we could be better at, for sure. On the importance of getting a lead: You always want to be in the lead. Like I said, in this league, it's tough to come back. Against a good team that doesn't beat themselves, you have to work for it and it's that much harder the more you get down. It's very important to get started and lead if you can. Tonight was not a great start. Obviously their power play started it off and got them rolling. We have to just do better. On the team's gaps: I don't think our speed was quite there. I think we were a little slow to start. They do a good job of breaking pucks out and using each other. Little dinks. It's not like long rims where the D are pinching pinching hard on. They're just kind of dinking it out so they have a little space. We have to learn how to be better on the forecheck and try to create turnovers there. Usually, if they don't have a play, it's high flip so it's a challenge. They're a good team at breaking the puck out. We got into our forecheck a little bit, played a couple shifts in their end, but obviously we have to do more of that and bore down on all the things we did well. On the team creating chances: There were looks. If you go over those chances, I'm sure there's enough out there for us to win the game. We just gave them too many. I hiccupped there in the corner and they put it in the back of the net. Made me pay on my mistake there. A couple other mistakes and they made us pay. It's a good team that knows how to score goals and find ways to win games when you make mistakes. We have to limit those mistakes and keep creating chances. On what happened when lost the puck on the second goal against: I kind of made a tight turn and with my hands, sometimes you never know what's going to happen. It just bounced over my stick. Kind of tough ice. Then he just circled the net, made a good play and had a good shot. On if it was more what the Panthers were doing or what the Canes were not doing: I think it's both. It's a good team. They're going to do the same things we're doing. You can tell that they do very similar stuff and they try to grind you down too. They're here for a reason. They know how to do it well. I thought there were spurts and they had spurts too. I think they capitalized on their chances tonight and we didn't. We obviously still have to limit our mistakes and their chances and hopefully we'll have a better result in the next one. On if there's any added urgency due to how past series went: There's enough urgency out there right now. We're in the Eastern Conference Final. Everyone knows where we're at and what we need to do. We have to be better obviously. Yeah, there's urgency. The next one's huge and we'll just focus on that and start it one shift at a time from there. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SHAYNE GOSTISBEHERE On the game: It's hard to win games in playoffs when you're chasing them like that. We definitely had our looks, [Sergei Bobrovsky] stood tall, but I think for us, we just have to stick to it. It's right there. You could see it. For us, just have to stick with it. On the dust-up with Brad Marchand: I was heated. Pretty pissed off. He tried to take a run at me, I shot the puck at him. Is what it is. Had a little tussle. On frustrations with not being able to get to their game: Yeah. Like I said, we could see it. Had spurts in the first where we got a chance and if we scored, we're the team up. That's just how it is. These games are hard to win at this time of year and they're going to be hard to win with how much effort goes into each game, each night. You have to be ready to play. On if they can build at all off of this game: You can definitely take some positives. We had our chances and Bob played really well. A couple more bounces and it could have been a different game. It's just really hard to chase these games at this time of year. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SETH JARVIS On the game: I thought early, especially in the first period, that we had a lot of chances. Power play has to execute earlier. They played a good game, but we know we have to capitalize a little bit more. We were right there, but sometimes it just doesn't go your way. On his redirection chance from the slot: I got exactly what I wanted out of it, just went a little high. It's something I practice all the time, just got to execute a little better. On if it was more about what Florida did or what they didn't do : A little bit of both. Obviously it's a different team, but we're pretty familiar with each other. So they knew what was coming, we knew what was coming. Like I said before, I didn't hate our game, we just need to capitalize a little bit more. On what Florida did to make it difficult: They did a good job. They're defending Cup champs for a reason. They've been rolling. It's gonna be hard regardless. Playing a team like that, but yeah, I have all the confidence in the world that we're going to figure this out and get back on the horse. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.
