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The Carolina Hurricanes came out of the gates strong in their first round series against the New Jersey Devils, taking Game 1 4-1 Sunday afternoon at Lenovo Center.
Frederik Andersen was solid for the Hurricanes, turning aside 23 shots, and Logan Stankoven proved to be the difference maker with a two-goal performance.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour, along with Jordan Staal, Jalen Chatfield, Stankoven and Andersen spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On everyone contributing toward the win: For us to win, we're going to need 20 guys chipping in and after a game going, 'Okay, I contributed someway, somehow.' I think that's what we got tonight.
On the rest at the end of the regular season paying: You always worry that you come out a little sluggish or whatever, but obviously that wasn't the case. And we were a healthy group, so it was a calculated risk, maybe, but obviously, at least after Game 1, that was the right decision.
On the team's experience: When we get to our game, it looks like that and we can certainly frustrate teams if we're going and in this building, with the crowd the way it is, we gotta give them a lot of props too because that is a big deal, I think. When you get that momentum going and you just feel the energy. But I just think we were ready to go and that first goal, I think, was huge to really settle everything and just allows you to stay the course.
On the new guy's impact: Both of those guys [Taylor Hall and Logan Stankoven] were really impactful tonight. Obviously on the goals, that's the obvious one, but Hallsy had, really a great pass on the one, but he had a bunch of other opportunities that he created basically on his own. Those are two great additions for us.
On Logan Stankoven's defensive responsibilities: It worked tonight, but it's a safety net for players to play with two players that do it the right way every shift or at least certainly try to [Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook]. There's a lot of comfort there for any player that gets to play with guys like that.
On special teams: It's obviously a big part of the game. I thought all of our power plays looked good tonight and had good looks and that's really the key, but there's no moral victories at this time. You have to make it happen. That was a big goal at that time. Kills were good too. Chalk it up, but it's one game and we're turning the page.
On the lineup choices he made: It's a great situation for a team to have to have the quality of guys that we had sit out because we know we're going to need everybody if we keep pushing forward. I guess you could say we made the right decisions, but I think we really couldn't have gone wrong.
Jordan Staal
On the game: Everything kind of went. Got the power play going, PK was good, 5v5 was great, obviously. Came out strong and it was a good all around effort all the way through from Freddie all the way up to every forward.
On Logan Stankoven: He's got a little more skill than me and Marty and obviously he can put the puck in the net. He's a good little player obviously, can find holes, has good speed and can shoot pucks. He's just getting warmed up.
On the dominant performance: I thought the game was good. They knew we were coming in the first game and they're going to come back and regroup and we're going to do it all over again. It's just one game. Hopefully we'll have a long run in front of us here, but we'll take the win.
On Stankoven's defensive responsibilities on the line: He's a smart player too. Without the puck, he's in good spots, he helps when he cans and he pressures the puck well. He's caught on pretty quick. I've been playing in the system for a long time, so it's kind of engrained in me, but he's caught this pretty quick and he's playing some good hockey.
On his celebration with Stankoven after his first goal: If I can't score, I've gotta celebrate with somebody. Obviously it was a big goal. Playoff hockey and with the building buzzing, there's no better feeling obviously. You got the anxieties going into the game and you're not sure how it's all going to play out. A big goal like that loosens you up and gets you smiling, for sure.
On the excitement to play this game after a long wait: It was kind of a long week. Obviously a good week though. I thought everyone looked fresh and ready to go. Everyone was just chomping at the bit to get going and we're excited to get into the series. We'll move on from Game 1 and get ready for Game 2.
On if having Stankoven on his line felt similar to having Jarvis there: Yeah, I don't disagree with that. I think obviously he adds some skill and some finish. There's usually some space when you play with me and Marty. We try to make some space for each other, but also obviously for our linemate. We play physical, play in their end and you get a lot of opportunities. He's a player that can finish it off and kind of create some stuff with the space he has.
On setting a tone early: I think the boys were ready to go. Obviously no one likes losing at the end of the year and all that stuff, but I knew everyone was focused on what was already ahead of us. It was a big Game 1 and a big start to the series for us. That's always been the goal ever since we were settled into this spot. It was a good start.
Jalen Chatfield
On starting off strong: 100%. We take pride in the stress game, so I think getting pucks deep and shots on net is huge and it worked out tonight.
On his goal: We called that play and run it a lot. Like I said, it's just about getting pucks to the net. We did a good job of getting in front and causing chaos. I don't know if he saw it or not, didn't really watch the replay, but when you get pucks to the net, good things happen.
On William Carrier providing the net front: I battle against him a lot, so I know that when he's in front, it's hard to get him out of the way.
On the importance of the early lead: I think it's huge. Just getting the momentum, the building was already rocking before, but after we got the first one, it got even louder. We can build behind that and we're going to continue to do that and keep playing our game.
On the rest the team got at the end of the regular season: You take it when you can. You always get your second wind in this part of the year and everybody was probably fired up and 110% ready to go on both sides. It's playoffs and it's do or die. We know this race and we know what it takes and we have to be prepared every night.
On the performance: We talked about it before the game. We know our team is going to work hard. It's just about playing within the details, playing consistent and not taking a shift off. I think we saw that tonight. We played a really good game and we stuck with it, played for each other. We had some good individual efforts, but we played a really good team game as well. Just keep building from here.
Logan Stankoven
On getting started on the right foot: It was just nice to kind of get the first one out of the way and start off on the right foot. I think when you come into a series, the first one is big, but there's still a lot of hockey left to play. It was a lot of fun playing out there.
On building chemistry: I think I'm just trying to adapt to those players and be in the right spots to get pucks off. It takes a bit of time at first, but I feel like I've been adjusting well and the guys have been doing a good job of communicating with me and helping me out.
On if he feels he was built to be a big-game performer: Yeah. I love playing in the big games and meaningful hockey. I think I'm motivated to try and contribute in any way possible and it's always a nice feeling to get on the score sheet.
On Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook providing the muscle, while he provides the skill: I mean, I think they have skill too, but it's definitely nice too to have a couple of big bodies on my line. They do such a good job of creating space for me and I think we can thrive down low. Honestly, I didn't think we had a lot of in-zone time today, so that's something we'll look to do a lot more of moving forward. So I think that's where we can thrive.
Frederik Andersen
On locking it down in the third period after a slow first 40: You never really know what a game is going to bring, but you just have to stay ready for that next shot and try to stay in the moment and stay present with it no matter what the score is or what's going on in the game. Try to react to what's in front of you and focus up for that next shot.
On setting a tone for the series: Obviously it's pretty clear that we were looking forward to this day for a bit now. We played some emotional games too to clinch our spot, but then everything, but all that mattered was this next game. We took a really good first step. Obviously as you saw today, the guys came out really hard and dominated from the first period. Obviously there was a bit of back and forth, but I'm really proud of the guys and how they started the game and put that little stretch past us all.
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