Nikolaj Ehlers’ overtime heroics powered Carolina to a gritty Game 2 victory. Go inside the locker room as the Hurricanes break down their relentless pursuit and series-tying win.
The Carolina Hurricanes have made it a series now, pulling off a 3-2 overtime win in Game 2 against the Montreal Canadiens.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored two goals for the Hurricanes, including the overtime winner, to make the Canes a perfect 4-0 in the extra frames.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Ehlers, Jalen Chatfield, Jaccob Slavin, Frederik Andersen, Eric Robinson and Mark Jankowski spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On what the team did better in Game 2: There was a lot to be better at. We definitely focused on one thing — I don't really want to tell you what that is — but we were much better at it tonight. Clearly. We're going to have to keep doing that. We were better, obviously.
On Nikolaj Ehlers' dynamisms: Saw it. It's exactly what we've talked about many times this year. He's a special talent and it was on full display tonight.
On the decision to matchup the Jordan Staal line against the Nick Suzuki line: Jordo... that's who he should be playing against. The best players. That's usually how we do it. Just obviously felt like from the other night we needed to change something up a little bit, so we tried to do that. You know what you're getting out of Jordo no matter who he's playing against. He's hard to play against. That was a good matchup for us tonight.
On the relentless pressure in overtime: I think that was our intent throughout the whole game. The last 10 minutes of the third wasn't great, but I thought for most of the game we were pretty in sync with what we needed to do and it showed. We need to find a way to keep doing that.
On how Nikolaj Ehlers has changed the dynamic of the team: It just makes you that much tougher to play against. We don't have to change our game, but we added a piece in there and now all of a sudden, I think we're more explosive. There's a guy that can win the game for you and I think that's an important element, especially in a game like this. It's tight and we needed that goal. He's got the ability to do it himself. That's what happened. Obviously that's pretty important.
On the fourth line's impact: This time of year, I just think, especially with the way we want to play, that you have to roll four lines to be effective. Those guys have been good every night. A couple of goals have been called back, but they've been around it the whole playoffs. They had a big hand in this here tonight.
On heading to Montreal with the series now tied 1-1 instead of down 0-2: It's huge, obviously. They're going to be happy with getting the win here and we're happy that at least we can start the series over. Nothing has really been accomplished other than we can trash that first game and now we can really start the series now is how we have to look at it. The good news is that we feel good about what we need to do and we got to it tonight.
On Jaccob Slavin's bounce back performance: I was never worried about that. That's the one thing I know about Jaccob. He's the best athlete I've ever seen at being able to just turn the page. He also showed that he was human the other night, to be honest. He had a game where I was like, 'I haven't seen that in... ever.' But there's a guy where nothing bothers him. He has a strong belief in what he's all about. He bounced back and Jalen [Chatfield] did too.
On if he got an explanation on the Alexandre Texier slash on K'Andre Miller: The hit or the spear? they didn't say a word to us. They didn't come over. They stayed their distance. Clearly that's a spear. There's not a person that can tell you that it wasn't. Played the game long enough to know that when you look at a guy and... [gestures a spearing motion]. Problem now is that there's cameras everywhere. That used to happen a lot more back in the day when nobody saw the stuff and the ref wasn't looking. That's a spear. But no, I did not get an explanation.
Nikolaj Ehlers
On how he feels: Well, I mean, I felt great obviously. Coming to a new place — it was the first time in my career — and it's been great so far. It's been special. The city's been great, the guys, the organization. To be able to do this at home, in front of our crowd was special. I felt everything out there. That's one I'm not going to forget.
On his first goal: It was a 2-on-2 and I was trying to cut across and see if I could drop it to Jordo. I kind of missed a step and Caufield, he came over pretty good. So at that point, I couldn't drop it and so I just tried to get it toward Jordo, toward the net pretty quick. Glad it went in.
On the overtime goal and what kind of emotions come to him in that moment: Everything. I can barely talk right now. I was yelling pretty loudly after that OT winner. I mean, Chatty got it and I saw Janks and Robbie coming toward the bench side, so I thought, 'I'm gonna pick up some speed and go to the other side and see if I can create some space and some room to get it.' It was a great pass from Janks and then I just tried to get some speed and get the puck off of my stick as quick as possible and try to surprise the goalie. Seeing that go in, seeing how the fans reacted, was pretty cool.
On not letting frustration build in: We played a really good game, much better than Game 1. We had some big chances. I think the goals they got were maybe a little self inflicted, but that team is here for a reason as well. They're great players and they're going to finish on the chances that they get, no matter how they get them. Sticking with it, we knew we were playing great, it was just a matter of getting that puck into the back of the net and playing the same way we did for 60 minutes. Proud of the group.
On how he's evolved to be more of a direct player: I think the biggest thing from back then was, first of all, consistency in my game. That was something I talked to [former coach Paul Maurice] about. Not staying on the outside every single time, but trying to get inside and get to some bigger soring chances. But the biggest thing was the shooting mentality. When I have that, then my legs feel a lot better. I talked to Svechy about this before Game 1 as well. The shooting mentality. It's worked out pretty good so far and it's something I want to keep doing.
On if big moments like tonight are why he signed here: I mean, of course, when you sign with a new team, every single year you want to win the Stanley Cup, and you want to have a chance at that. When I signed here, I knew what a great team they had. I've been playing against this team for the last 10 years, and that was something that excited me. We’re in the Eastern Conference Finals right now. The scoring depth that we have is something that we've had all year. And especially in the playoffs, it's huge. Robbie gets that first one. In the second round, it was Stanky's line. We’ve all got to get it going, and it's going to be different players at different times, different games. We’ve just all got to keep working and playing the right way. That's the only way we'll continue playing.
On going head-to-head with the Suzuki line and the decision to do that: I'll leave that one to the coaches. Every single time you go out there, you want to play the same way no matter what team, what line you're playing against. And the way that we play as a team, you want to play the right way. Obviously you’ve got to know who you're out there against. That Suzuki line is unbelievable. So for us, it was about keeping it simple, making sure we got everyone back, making sure we got pucks deep play it, playing in there end and making it hard for them. If it was another line we were playing against, we would have done the exact same. So I don't think that changes for us. And tonight, especially, we did a pretty good job of that.
Jalen Chatfield
On Jaccob Slavin's bounce back performance: We had a really good talk even this morning. We know what we're capable of doing and how we have to be effective to help the team win. Seeing him going out there and playing that way and, for me, just trying to do what I can to help him play his best and vice versa. We were pumped to get back out there and get another opportunity.
On what makes the team so effective in overtime: I think we just have a group of guys that has been there before and we know what it takes. Sticking to the game plan and not trying to change anything in OT. I thought we did that and Fly made a great play. Everybody on the ice, every shift from the start OT, I thought we stuck to the game plan and had a nice finish.
On the team's bounce back performance: We had video yesterday and we knew we had to be better. I thought right from the start, we came out there and we got to our game. We know when we do that, we know that we're capable of doing what we did tonight. Even tonight, I think we're going to be able to find some things to work on and be even better for Game 3.
Jaccob Slavin
On bouncing back: The win's the cherry on top, but for myself, I expect a lot of myself, and God's given me great abilities to play this game. So whether it's a good game or a bad game, I'm going to give him the glory. That was my mindset going into night. Just play with confidence in who I am in him and just let the game come as it does.
On Nikolaj Ehlers: It's been unbelievable. It's awesome. He's so fast out there, makes unbelievable plays with the puck. Obviously on that first goal he had, you just see the skill that he has. He's been a great addition for us. We need him to keep doing that.
On overtime: We were kind of in overtime there for the last 10 minutes of the game in the third period there. I mean, it's fun. The atmosphere is awesome, the crowd's into it. I feel like every play just matters that much more. And so you don't want to get outside yourself and play a game that didn't get you to that point, and so you just got to stick with it.
On what was said in the locker room before OT: Just stay on our game,. We had good chances there, we had good O zone time, and so again, just don't get outside our game. Stay with what makes us successful.
On facing Montreal's top line: That's hopefully how it should look most nights unlike Game 1. They're a great line. They have a lot of skill and you have to respect that. But it's taking away their time and space, being hard to play against and we did a good job about that tonight.
On team's defensive effort as a five-man unit: It was great. That's our game is puck pressure. We might be a little aggressive sometimes, but our forwards work really hard at getting back and helping us out as a D corps. We’ve got to continue with that. We’ve go to continue with all of that five-man effort all over the ice.
Frederik Andersen
On what was said before overtime: Not a ton. I thought we were coming at them nicely. I think we were playing a pretty good game in terms of putting it on him and we wanted to continue that, obviously.
On his game: I think any time you give up a goal, you want to try to save the next one and just try to battle with it, stay with it. You can't get it back, right? You’ve just got to turn the page quick and try to save the next one. So much stuff is not in your control and you’ve just got to focus on that.
On the defensive details: I think we were just getting at it in their end more, honestly. We spent a lot more time putting the wear and tear on them and that was probably the key. That and just being above them. It starts in their end and goes through all three zones.
On Nikolaj Ehlers: He's awesome. Such a good guy. He's got so much speed, so much skill and obviously a great shot as well. Just a great game for him.
On facing only a few shots: You don't get anything for shots against. It's about the win, so that's all I really care about.
Eric Robinson
On finally starting to get some goals: It feels really good, obviously, to contribute. You kind of need that this time of year, contributions from different guys, so I’m happy to see some of those chances go.
On his line’s overall performance: I think just kind of spending more time in their end, really our whole team. But I felt our line did a good job of that. Limiting their chances, just by playing in the o-zone.
On his goal: I was just trying to get a piece of it, throw them off a little bit. Got lucky that it went in.
On getting the first ECF home win in 20 years: [The fans] are always great. Loudest building in the NHL. So to give them that... they've been supporting us. It was huge to gut one out there.
On what it’s like to watch Nikolaj Ehlers up close: I think his nickname is Fly for a reason. He's a special player. It seems like he gets faster when he gets a puck, which is really not easy to do. He made a couple really special plays tonight.
On William Carrier: He’s a horse. He's a big guy. Real physical, protects the puck well. Big contribution to that o-zone time that I was mentioning.
On the coaching staff rolling all four lines: It's obviously nice when you get called upon in any situation. You want to make sure you're taking advantage, not necessarily always offensively, but being responsible, playing the right way, playing hard.
On overtime: Just proud of the group. They tied it up pretty late there, but I felt like we did a good job of getting right to our game in overtime. Playing in the o-zone, pucks to the net. Really proud of the way we just stuck with it.
Mark Jankowski
On his line finally getting on the board: I felt like everyone played well tonight. I think we started on time and it was a good game for our line. Getting that one early was a great play all around. We were just trying to keep it simple, trying to get in on them, create turnovers on the forecheck, be hard, be heavy. That’s the identity of our line. Create some momentum for our team and then chip in with some offense when we can.
On Nikolaj Ehlers changing the team dynamic: You could see it right from as soon as he got here, Day One. I mean, he's a special player. He’s so fast, he's so skilled. Easiest assist of my life on that one. Just poke it to him in the neutral zone and let him do the rest. It's awesome to be able to watch someone like that.
On the team rolling all four lines in overtime: That's the identity of our team. That's how we play. You probably hear some guys say the stress game. We try to put it on them, get pucks deep, hunt their D, create turnovers, be hard on the forecheck. That's the identity of our team and you definitely saw that in overtime there.
On Will Carrier: He's made for this. This is his time of year, for sure. It's awesome being able to play with someone like him and Robby as well. The playoffs are definitely tailormade for him. He's hard, he's heavy, he holds onto pucks, takes it to the net and finishes his checks. It's awesome playing with someone like him.
On the team bouncing back from adversity: We believe in our team. We believe in what we can bring. When we play our game and we play our best, we can compete with anyone. So to have a little bit of adversity, lose the first game the way we did, I didn't think we played anywhere near the standard that we have for us. Yeah, that late goal, but I felt like we pushed back hard after that. And then in overtime as well. So it just shows the commitment in our group to stick to the process and play our game.
On if making it 1-1 gives them momentum heading to Montreal: It's great being able to get that one at home here. Obviously, you don't want to go down 0-2. So it was a huge win for us. We knew the stakes coming into this game, how important it was. And now we get to go on the road to Montreal, in a great building as well, and play two good games as well.
On Jordan Staal taking on the Nick Suzuki line: They were unbelievable. That's what they've been doing all year. They can shut down any line in the league and then they chip in with offense as well. Obviously Fly on that line being able to do what he does, and then the other two complement him so well. It’s awesome to have a line like that. They can play both ends of the ice — in the D zone being able to shut down some top guys and being able to provide offense as well.
On Ehlers’ game-winning goal: It was obviously a great feeling. I bumped it to him, then I was going for a change. And then I just kind of peeked over, saw he had a good gap on the guy, and shot it in. And I just kind of put my hands up. I think I hugged Marty on the bench, I was just about to get off. So yeah, it's a great feeling being able to celebrate with the guys like that.
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