'We Just Dug Too Big A Hole': Brandon Bussi, Jordan Staal, Jordan Martinook, Andrei Svechnikov, Rod Brind'Amour On Brutal Game 3 Loss
· Yahoo Sports
The Carolina Hurricanes' improbable comeback effort came up short Saturday night as the team fell 5-4 in double overtime to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
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Despite being down 4-0 entering the third period, the Canes managed to a find a way to force OT, however a bad bounce off the end boards ended their rally.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with Brandon Bussi, Jordan Staal, Jordan Martinook and Andrei Svechnikov spoke with the media. Here's what they had to say:
Rod Brind'AmourOn the game: It was kind of a weird game, for me. I thought we were okay to start, and even the start of the second, the first six minutes, everything was going fine and then we took a bad penalty. Then they made a nice play and a bad bounce on the second one and then it just snowballed on us for the rest of that period. I knew we were going to get going eventually. Got back in the game, gave ourselves a chance to win, but you can't have those mistakes in the second period. You just can't have them at this time of year.
On Brandon Bussi coming in from the third period on: I mean, he played well. There was no reason to leave Freddie in there the way that game was going. Gave us a little boost. Made a great save on Marner there and gave us a chance. Tough, tough break. I hate it for him because he was playing great. It's hockey.
On if he has any update on Will Carrier: He went out and I don't really know what happened, to be honest with you. I haven't even gotten an update yet.
On if his loss was difficult to manage: Look, we played hard after he went out. It's tough in a game like that where you go into that many extra minutes and not have a full group. But, again, that's just part of it and you have to deal with it.
On the third period comeback: I mean, we changed the lines a little bit. You know, they get up four and so they were probably sitting back a little bit. It's just how it goes. Got to our game a little bit. At least we made a game of it. But there are no moral victories this time of year. It's irrelevant to be honest. We have to regroup. We know going into this, you're not going to win... it's kind of a little bit like the first game where we just had too many not smart plays and they made us pay.
On the series as a whole: It's a stress game. You're putting stress on the other team and then they cough it up and it's in the net. It's kind of how all the goals have been scored, really. It's chaotic a little bit. It's tough because I haven't really looked at it all. There was a lot going on and I didn't love parts of that game for our group. You can't have those... It's going to be hard enough, so you gotta make sure you're doing it right in order to win and we had too many shifts in there where we didn't.
On the team's ability to battle back: I know one thing. We've been in games where we haven't played well and we always find a way to dig ourselves out. Always. That's kind of what happened again here tonight. We just dug a little too big a hole there.
On a loss like that being hard to get back up from: No, no. No. We're in the Stanley Cup Final. We're down 2-1. It's tough and a tough way to lose a game, but they're all tough. It is what it is. We've gotta just bounce back and we have, always. I'm not worried about that.
On if he'll go to Bussi for Game 4: We'll figure all that out later. We have a couple days to reassess how we're going to go about the next game. But I give him credit for coming in. He played well. Like I said, I hate that that's the goal that ends it, because there's nothing he could do. It's just a bad break. But he was great.
On the comeback effort: We're a resilient team. We don't give up. I think there's a lot of times in the regular season we've showcased that and in the playoffs. With this group, we never have any doubt. We just have to keep sticking with our game.
On if he knew he was going to be coming in for the third: I wasn't certain, but I saw what was happening. I think we probably could have been a little better for Freddie there in the second. But if my name gets called, my job is to put my head down and stop the puck.
On the emotions of the game: Honestly, I was pretty even keeled. I think these are the moments you want to be playing in, right? Just put my head down and have fun with it. It was a great effort by us, obviously a tough bounce there in overtime. Kind of felt like it was going to be a greasy one, unfortunately it was in our net. We'll regroup.
On what he saw on the game-winning goal: A shot from the point, I saw it all the way. It hit the yellow and shot out a lot quicker than I thought. So I guess I kicked it in. It stinks. It's not what we wanted. We felt like we had out chances in overtime, but to win the Stanley Cup, it's hard. We'll put this one behind us.
On the moment: I mean, the Stanley Cup Final, that's cool, right? But the result wasn't cool. I think, as a group, there's some things we can correct. There's some things we like. We have to find that balance and be ready for Game 4.
On what he's thinking on the Mitch Marner penalty shot: Stop the puck.
On if he thought that save was a boost for the team: I think we kind of got our jam back after that first [goal].
On staying ready despite not having played in two months: It's been a fun ride. We're here for a reason. I've practiced hard in case something happened. I'm not rooting for that, but my name was called. That's about it.
On if he'll be ready to go for Game 4 if his name is called: Absolutely. That's not my call though. Fred's the reason why we're here right now. If they tell me I'm going, great. If not, I'll be ready.
On his emotions during the comeback: Like I said, just positives. The result wasn't a positive, but we need to take positives out of games like this. There's negatives we need to correct, but obviously we did things good in the third, right? We came back from four goals. We're not satisfied, but there were positives.
On how shocking the ending of the game was: Yeah, definitely a kick in the ‘you know what.’ Obviously we lost the game in the second. I’m proud of the group, obviously, for coming back and giving us a chance. We would have been talking about a different story if we buried one and got the bounce, but it’s a tough one to swallow, but we're going to have to. We're going to have to regroup and get after them in Game 4.
On the team's ability to battle back: Like I said, I'm proud of the group. But obviously, like I said before, we already lost the game in the second but we almost didn't. It was a heck of an effort from everyone contributing and grinding and finding ways and giving us a chance, a shot. Obviously the way it finished sucked and we'll look at some things that we can do better and not give ourselves a 4-0 hole and then go from there.
On what happened in the second period: It was just kind of not our game. Too many turnovers and not trusting in just playing in their end and grinding them down and doing what we did in the first and staying with it and just kind of got lax a little bit. They're a good team. I mean there's no question they've got some high end talent and they're going to make plays and make moves. We can't be taking any breaths on any of the shifts against that team.
On if the goalie swap sparked the team at all: I mean Bus obviously came in and played great, no question he made some big saves and gave us a chance. Obviously we got a couple goals and started to feel good, so it's a little bit of both. It was great.
On Brandon Bussi coming in despite not playing for two months: You have to ask him, but I'm sure he was excited to get in there and help out. He's got such a great attitude, he works hard and he looked ready and looked good.
On how emotionally draining of a loss that was: Yeah, it was playoff hockey. It's part of the gig and it's never easy. It's never going to be easy and we know that and we understand that. We’ve got a bigger hill to climb now, but we're excited for the challenge and excited to keep playing hard and keep moving forward.
On if he feels bad for what happened to Frederik Andersen: Yeah. There was definitely a couple tap-ins and breakaways and we were all over the place. We left Freddie out to dry. He's been great for us, so I do feel bad for him, but it is what it is.
On losing Will Carrier: Cares is a big part of our group. Physically and with the way we play, he dives right into that and holds onto pucks. So it was a tough hole, but I thought the wingers did a good job of rolling lines and rolling through.
On if the game-winning goal went in off of his stick: I didn't feel it off my stick. I seen it coming and I tried to make a play on it, but I think I just missed it. I'll have to watch it. It doesn't really matter, it went in. It just sucks if it went off me, but I don't know if it did.
On the team battling back to force overtime: I love that. We feel like we can come back from anything, but you can't put yourself in a hole like we did. The second period, for them to come out like that and take total control of the game, it's something that can't happen, especially this time.
On Brandon Bussi stepping in: He was incredible. I think his first shot was a penalty shot against Marner. But we know we've had two good guys all year, so we have a ton of faith in Bus. He played well when he got in there.
On if Will Carrier going out made the game harder: No, I don't think so. You get in a rhythm, especially the way we were doing it. We were kind of rotating right wings and then left wings. You get in a rhythm, you're fine. It is what it is.
On if the melee after his goal sparked the rally: I don't know. I just think we needed something good to happen, so we obviously get that one, and then it felt like that's when the game turned. I don't know if that, but obviously, we needed to have something good happen to us.
On making sense of the series: It's been three games that I haven't really felt like I've been a part of. But I think we can tighten some things up and be a lot better. I think we're right there. It obviously sucks and hurts right now, but we'll look at some things and see where we can improve and come back Tuesday ready to try and even this up.
On the group's ability to battle back: I don't know if we're known for that, but it's something that everybody takes a lot of pride in. That you're not out of a game ever, and we proved that. Just have to stop putting ourselves in positions where we have to come back. We need to be the aggressor in some of these games.
On the emotional toll of a loss like that: Obviously super tough. Just being down 4-0 and then evening the game and then to lose in overtime, it's probably the toughest game I've ever lost. The first goal, it started with me. I took that penalty as the sixth man on the ice. It was on me and I have to do a better job with that.
On forcing overtime: Crazy. It was kind of very emotional. On the power play, with two minutes left, you just try to put the puck on the net and thank God we scored that one. But it doesn't matter.
On Brandon Bussi: Unbelievable. He was very confident and made some big saves there. Just came out very confident.
On the series: It's been crazy. Obviously losing 2-0 and then 4-0 and just coming back, it's been kind of crazy, but let's hope it's not going to be crazy next game.
On the team's ability to battle back: I've been saying, we never give up on anything. We just keep going and going. That's our identity. Never quit.
On of temperatures are starting to rise: Maybe. Especially if you're losing 4-0, you have to do something.
On what changed in the third period: We just weren't thinking about anything. Trying to play our game. We knew it was 4-0 and so we just needed to come hard and do whatever it takes. Put pucks on net. We've got to take that game to the next one.
On there being positives to build on: Yeah, definitely. Obviously it's 2-1 right now in the series, which is kind of a bad thing for us, but there is many more games to come. We know that and we're going to be prepared for that.
On being prepared for a long series: You have to be prepared for everything.
On what was said in the locker room before the third period: To be honest, it was quiet a little bit, but Roddy came out and gave us a little speech. We knew what we had to do and we came out hard in the third period and evened the game.
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