Hurricanes Postgame Bites: Brind’Amour & Players After 3-2 Overtime Win – The Hockey Writers – Carolina Hurricanes

Once again, the Carolina Hurricanes find a way to win, this time 3-2 in overtime in Game 2 against the Philadelphia Flyers. They’ll take a 2-0 series lead to Philadelphia after coming back from down 2-0 early in the first period. After the game, The Hockey Writers were able to ask questions to Rod Brind’Amour and some of the players postgame.

Sean Walker

All season long, Sean Walker has been a rock on the blue line for the Hurricanes. He played in 81 games after getting rest for Game 82. In the playoffs, he’s been shutting it down defensively with K’Andre Miller as the two have been great together all season. When asked what it’s been like playing with Miller, and so well, he stated, “I like seeing him playing pretty good, but he’s unbelievable. I think he is on another level right now. Just his ability to stick, skating, his physicality, the plays he makes every night has made it easy on me. I’m just trying to help him any way I can now.”

Miller and Walker each added an assist, giving them four and two points, respectively. Outside of the points, they’ve been great on both sides of the puck. Miller has been using his size to make big hits and put his stick in a spot to break up plays. Walker has been great defensively, just finding ways every game to take it to another level and keep the opponents at bay. They’ve been a great pair all season, and it’s showing in the playoffs how good they are, no matter the situation.

Seth Jarvis

It’s been a rollercoaster of a postseason for Seth Jarvis. He came into Game 2 with three points, all assists, and has been trying to break the ice. He finally broke through and scored the game-tying goal, which forced overtime. His buddies from Winnipeg, the Good Ol’ Canadian Boys, were at the game to sound the siren.

When asked about what it means to score his first goal of the playoffs with his buddies in the barn, he said, “Yeah, it’s cool, I might have to keep them around more often. They sounded the siren, and we’re down 2-0 right away. I was a little nervous. I was about to un-invite them forever. Glad we got the win, and to have these guys here. I saw them after we won, one had his shirt off, and another was piggybacking someone. I’m glad they’re enjoying it.”

From making the playoffs last season to going to Milan this past February and now these playoffs, it seems like his buddies from home might need to stick around more often. Whenever the guys are in town, Jarvis finds a way to score, and their celebration is on another level. Regarding the Hurricanes, getting Jarvis rolling like that will be huge for them as they’re up 2-0 in the series and 6-0 in the playoffs. If he and the top line get it going, the Hurricanes could be tough to beat when everyone is rolling.

Nikolaj Ehlers

After the Flyers were up 2-0 with goals in 36 seconds, it seemed like they had the momentum. However, that changed when Nikolaj Ehlers scored a huge power-play goal. It was his first of the playoffs for the Hurricanes, and it was a huge one that seemed to spark the comeback. Ehlers stated when asked about how huge his goal was to change the feeling of the game, “It’s always huge, at that point it’s a 2-0 game. You want to get right back, and we were able to do that. Now it’s a one-goal lead, it’s one shot. It took us until like six minutes left [in the game] to get the second one. Obviously, I loved every second of it. It was awesome to get my first of the playoffs, at home as well. I enjoyed that one today.”

Ehlers had a career season in his first run with the Hurricanes, and while it took until Game 6 of the playoffs for his first, it was a big one. Overall, “Fly” has been noticeable, and it was huge for the Hurricanes to see him be rewarded for his efforts. After Jarvis joined him and Jordan Staal on the third line, it seemed there was a boost there as well. Ehlers will definitely be looking to keep that scoring touch going as they head into Game 3.

Taylor Hall

After the game, Taylor Hall said he didn’t feel like it was his best attacking game. However, all it takes is one bounce to change the narrative, and it did for him as he got the overtime game-winning goal. His line during the playoffs has been on an unreal run, having 21 points combined heading into Game 2. They added another three points, following Jackson Blake’s two assists and Hall’s game-winner. They’re now up to 24 points through six games as a trio.

It seems like the confidence in that line is high because there’s a feeling they will score on every shift. Throughout Game 2, there was a sense of that growing after a slow start earlier. When asked about the confidence-building through the game, he stated, “Tonight wasn’t our strongest game 5-on-5. We had a couple of looks there in the third, but for the most part, they [the Flyers] did a good job on us. They’re doing a really good job of not letting any slot plays come from below the goal line. That’s kind of what was giving us some success in the Ottawa series. We were talking about some adjustments we might make. But they’re a good defensive team, look at their numbers. They’re strong and force us to make plays, and keep us on the outside.”

Hall is a veteran who knows when they did not play well but still got the job done. Either way, Hall and his line find ways to get it done, even if it’s not their best game. That line, even when not playing their A-game, is still one to keep an eye on as the playoffs progress.

Rod Brind’Amour

Brind’Amour was taking a flurry of questions following the Hurricanes’ comeback win. After giving up two goals in 36 seconds, the team locked it down and did not let the Flyers score again. Frederik Andersen finished the night making 34 saves on 36 shots (.944 save percentage). When asked about Andersen and his overall pay after the two goals, he said, “Well, he was the difference. In overtime, especially, we had that one bad shift, then the penalty. They [Flyers] had plenty of opportunities to win the game. He was the difference there. That’s where he really, I think, rose to the occasion and enabled us to hang in there. It was enabling us to get, obviously, the win.”

Andersen played lights out the whole game, minus the two goals in quick succession. But being able to come back from that and secure his sixth straight win will be a boost the team needs as they head into Game 3. It’ll be interesting to see if there will be a change there, but after another great performance, Andersen will more than likely be back in the crease next game.

Later on, Brind’Amour was asked about the pairing of Walker and Miller, especially with how they’ve been this postseason. He stated, “You can kind of go down the list, especially with our D right now. That pair, Miller, you’ve got to give him his due because he’s been great. Logging a lot of minutes against, you know, against obviously top, top competition. All year, they’ve been doing that. That’s the reason I think one of the key reasons our defense has helped us to be where we’re at.”

Between what Walker and Brind’Amour said, that pairing has been dialed in all season and continues to be so in the playoffs. The penalty kill went 6-for-7, but that’s because of the confidence the blue line has when it comes to 5-on-5 that translates to the PK doing their jobs as well. Walker and Miller are an underrated pair, and they will only continue to get better as the playoffs progress.

The Hurricanes will play Game 3 on Thursday, May 7, as they look to take another 3-0 stranglehold on a playoff series. Just like Round 1, they shut out the opponent in Game 1, then won in overtime in Game 2. Not sure if the script will play out again in Game 3 like last round, but the Hurricanes have shown they can come back and win against some adversity. Now it’s time to rest and get ready for Game 3 on Thursday.