The Carolina Hurricanes punched their ticket to the postseason, defeating the Washington Capitals in a hot-blooded 5-1 blowout Wednesday night at Lenovo Center.
Sean Walker, Jackson Blake (x2), Seth Jarvis and Logan Stankoven all scored for the Canes while Frederik Andersen stopped 20 shots in the win.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Jarvis, Blake and Stankoven spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'Amour
On the game: Yeah, we were missing some guys, but it was just a good team effort. I thought everybody was contributing, doing their job and we capitalized. We were able to score some goals on some good chances that we had, especially early. Getting ahead, against that team, that's the way you have to do it because it's tough to come back when you get behind.
On if games like this can bring teams together: I don't know. That's what you always say when you win the game and there's a couple scraps. We're pretty tight already. I don't know if that made it any better, but I think like we said, we know now that we're in. That was official and I like that we went and took it. We didn't just get it handed to us. So it was a good game, good effort. Listen, they played last night. I don't know what they're really playing for anymore. Maybe first overall, but everybody knows. That's probably why we caught them at the start.
On Logan Stankoven getting physical with Tom Wilson: That's about as much of a mismatch as there can be in the league probably. Give him credit, I guess. I don't know. He hung in there, did his best.
On Alex Ovechkin inching closer to the goal record: Kind of forgot about that whole aspect of the game. Didn't love the calls on that to begin the 5v3, to be honest, but it's just the classic way he scores, right? I mean, we see 100 of those every year basically in that exact same spot. You have to give him credit, he's the best at it. Of those that have ever played, to score in that spot. He's gonna get it, just a matter of time.
On special teams: That was the difference in the game, right? At the start for sure. Got a couple quick ones on the power play and then I thought we did a good job on the kill and then 5v3 is a tough ask. But that was probably the difference in the game.
On if all the Ovechkin attention motivated the locker room to send a message: Not really. We didn't really talk about it much. Like, we know it's coming. We know we still have a job to do. I think every night you don't want them to score, so you're always trying to give your best effort. I don't think that really had anything to do with it. I think just where we are in the standings and what was at stake for us tonight to kind of take that next step was the motivator.
On Frederik Andersen: He was good. I thought he was really good. There was a couple times where they got in alone and he made a good save at the right time. Like, to me, that's what it's all about. If they get the ...
