Team pleased with "complete" series-opening victory, but remains striving for more
RALEIGH, N.C. – Fresh off a convincing 4-1 victory to open the series on Sunday afternoon, the Carolina Hurricanes were right back to work on Monday.
Holding practice at Lenovo Center, there were few, if any, glaring holes that the team needed to address after taking Game 1.
Their start was fantastic, establishing a lead in the opening three minutes and holding New Jersey without a single shot attempt from between the circles during the first period.
Their five-on-five play was dominant, per usual, accounting for over 70% of the shots in the first 40 minutes.
Their special teams were strong, netting a power play goal and holding the Devils 0-for-2 on their man advantage chances.
Their goaltending didn’t need to be fantastic for all 60 minutes, but Frederik Andersen played a major role in keeping his team in front during a third-period push from New Jersey.
There was a lot to like, and that’s how the team wanted it to be.
“We talked about it before the game, we know our team’s going to work hard. It’s just about playing within the details, being consistent and not taking a shift off,” opening goal-scorer Jalen Chatfield shared post-game. “I think we played a really good game. We stuck with it, and we played for each other. We had some good individual efforts, but we played a really good team game as well.”
Yet, unsurprisingly, a few key pieces from yesterday’s game had self-criticism and pointed out ways they could have been better. Despite a two-goal performance from trade deadline acquisition Logan Stankoven, he didn’t think that his line, including Jordan Martinook and Jordan Staal, was at its peak.
“Honestly, I didn’t think we had a lot of in-zone time, so that’s something that we’ll look to do more of moving forward,” the rookie said. “I think that’s where we can thrive.”
The self-assessments may sound critical, but really, it’s just business as usual for a team always looking to take their game to a new level.
“That’s how we do business here. We go through yesterday’s game. There’s good stuff, some learners. It’s what every team is doing this time of year,” Sebastian Aho said following today’s practice. “They’re not major changes, obviously, but there’s little tweaks here and there to try to improve.”
NJD at CAR | Recap
Being almost fully healthy at this time of year is both a blessing and a curse. Having options for the lineup is a great thing for Rod Brind’Amour, but it also means a difficult conversation with a few players.
Despite producing a co-team-leading eight goals in the team’s final 19 games of the season after coming aboard from Nashville, Mark Jankowski was one of the odd men out yesterday.
A surprise to some, it meant that Eric Robinson and Jack Roslovic would both be in the lineup. Poetically enough, those two earned the assists on Jalen Chatfield’s game-opening goal after the duo teamed up to win an offensive zone draw.
“It’s a great situation for the team to have the quality guys that we have that we had to sit out,” said Brind’Amour postgame. “We know we’re going to need everybody if we keep pushing forward. I guess you could say we made the right decisions; we really couldn’t have gone wrong.”
But just because Jankowski, Tyson Jost and Riley Stillman didn’t draw in for Game 1, doesn’t mean they won’t be in for Game 2.
“All the guys that we took out, up front especially, were guys [who we could] definitely could have in. Just because you win a game, I’m not really big into (needing to keep that lineup the same), Brind’Amour offered after today’s practice. “You obviously don’t want to upset the apple cart, but if there’s a way to get better, we’ll definitely look at it.”
A similar tough decision will have to be made in net for tomorrow.
Frederik Andersen wasn’t tasked with a ton yesterday, but he also has not played consecutive games since the 2023-24 postseason. The team could elect to go to Pyotr Kochetkov and continue the rotation seen during the regular season, but Brind’Amour was not ready to make a public determination on that as of Monday.
“We’re pretty sure what we’re going to do (with the goaltenders), but I don’t want to commit to it at this point,” he said.
Elsewhere in the playing group, eyebrows were raised when Taylor Hall did not appear on the ice for Monday’s practice after becoming the fifth player in franchise history with two assists in his playoff debut with the club, but Brind’Amour said the veteran’s absence was precautionary to “just give him a rest.”
Without Hall, here’s how the team lined up for Monday’s practice:
Forwards
Jarvis – Aho – Blake
Jost – Kotkaniemi – Svechnikov
Martinook – Staal – Stankoven
Carrier – Roslovic – Robinson – Jankowski
Defense
Slavin – Burns
Orlov – Chatfield
Gostisbehere – Walker
Nikishin – Stillman
Goalies
Andersen | Kochetkov | Khazheyev
There's nothing better than playoff hockey pic.twitter.com/WVpxtSgF3w
New Jersey will aim to reset ahead of Tuesday’s Game 2. The biggest question surrounding the Devils was the status of Luke Hughes, Brenden Dillon and Cody Glass, who each went down with injuries in Game 1. Hughes returned to action late in the third period and Dillon was held out for “precautionary reasons,” but Sheldon Keefe said on Monday that all three were still being evaluated.
Speaking to reporters after the game on Sunday, Keefe said his team was “overwhelmed” in the second period, negating the good they eventually created in the third period. But that solid final 20 minutes could serve as a jumping-off point for a team that struggled early in Game 1. So, how will Rod Brind’Amour prepare his club to take perhaps a stronger showing from New Jersey on Tuesday?
“The same way we always would. We always expect the best from the other team,” he said. “We know they think they need to be better. I think there’s areas we need to be better at, too. You’re always starting fresh, every game starts zero-zero, and you’ve got to go get it.”
An incredibly tough sequence for New Jersey, which loses two players on the same shift.
Luke Hughes went down the tunnel with what appeared to be an upper-body injury, and then Cody Glass goes down because of … this. pic.twitter.com/MIZDc6OHlv
