The Hurricanes spoke to the media after losing to the Panthers.
The Carolina Hurricanes couldn’t keep their undefeated streak alive on Saturday night, falling to the Florida Panthers by a final score of 4-2.
Rod Brind’Amour, Vincent Trocheck, and Jaccob Slavin spoke to the media following the loss. Here’s what they had to say.
Rod Brind’Amour
On Frederick Andersen: He played great. He was good all night. We took him out after the first because we were dead in the water, so we didn’t want to leave him in there. Unfortunately, Raanta got hurt so we had to throw him back in, but he gave us a chance to come back.
On Antti Raanta’s injury: You probably got way more looks than I did. It’s tough to watch it live. I didn’t get a good look at it. I haven’t looked at it much, other than kinda when it happened. They reviewed it. Special teams were the difference tonight. We were terrible on those… [Raanta] was fine when we walked out of here, but I’m sure he’s concussed. When you get hit in the head, that’s generally what goes on. I’m not sure yet, but I would assume that’s what’s going on.
On the attitude after the game: We could have maybe even won this game, and I’d be still irate. That was not good. They know it. Guys know how to self-evaluate after a game. You can’t have five guys come to play, we need everyone ready to play. We just weren’t sharp. I know it was special teams, really that’s the game tonight, but it was too many breakaways and odd-man rushes – things that we normally don’t give up. Good for [Florida]. They played a hard game and did what they needed to do. We certainly didn’t
On the bad start: I don’t think we were sluggish, I just think our penalty kill wasn’t very good. That’s the game. We started the first shift on the penalty kill, then the second penalty, and before you know it, we had three or four in the first period. That’s the game right there. We kinda got going as the game went along, but it certainly wasn’t good enough to even come close to a win today.
On if he got clarification on DeAngelo’s misconduct: No, I don’t know.
On Seth Jarvis: He’s competitive and makes plays. He’s been solid, really solid, three games in. He’s looked good pretty much every shift. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. That’s why he got more ice time tonight.
On if Raanta went into concussion protocol: I don’t 100% know the answer to that. I just talked to him, so I don’t know if he went into any protocols. He seemed like he was doing okay, so that’s all I can tell you.
On Brendan Smith: He was solid. He worked hard. He didn’t play a heck of a lot, but for being out as long as he was, I thought he competed very hard.
Jaccob Slavin
On the loss: It just wasn’t the start that we needed tonight. It’s something that comes from hard work and then just not being prepared to go right away nipped us in the bud at the end there.
On the slow start: The special teams were huge. Our PK was been really good all year, but giving up three penalty kill goals in the first period is never a good start. So, just staying out of the box, myself included, that’s not a great penalty to take less than a minute into the game. We just have to make sure that we’re staying out of the box. It’s something that we’ve struggled with, as a team, over the last couple of seasons. So, just making sure we’re disciplined in that area. We just can’t give up three penalty kill goals.
On the collision between Lomberg and Raanta: I don’t know if I have any comments on it right now. It’s the heat of a game. Raanta is trying to make a play and their guy is trying to score a goal. Sometimes those things just happen. I don’t know all of the details to it, but it’s just one of those things that happen in a contact sport. You don’t ever want to see it, but things like that happen sometimes.
On Brendan Smith: He’s been great for a long time, so for him to come in is awesome for him. He’s a physical presence on the ice and he plays a hard game. At the end, I think he played fine tonight, but we didn’t back it up as a team.
Vincent Trocheck
On how the team bounced back and made it a close game in the second and third: Yeah, that’s the silver lining, I guess. You know this team never quits, and that’s obviously a positive. But it’s a 60-minute game, not 40, so we have to come out better than we did.
On what led to the bad start: I don’t know. That’s on us. We have to be prepared. This is the National Hockey League. It’s what we do for a living and we have to be prepared when the puck drops.
On if the early penalties led to them not being as prepared: I think penalties are a result of lackluster play and not being prepared, so I don’t think we were ready to play.