FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Hurricanes looked to move past their disastrous third period in Saturday’s Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final and try to prepare to fend off elimination when the Panthers host them Monday.
On Sunday, Carolina players talked about moving on from the first three games of the series when they were outscored 16-4, focusing on the positives of the first two periods of Game 3 and hoping to replicate that effort to get back in the series.
1. Game 3 turned early in the third period when, with the game tied 1-1, Hurricanes forward Taylor Hall attempted a drop pass in the neutral zone. Florida intercepted it, and Jesper Boqvist turned Carolina defenseman Dmitry Orlov inside-out before scoring on Pyotr Kochetkov for the first of five goals in nine-plus minutes that sank the Hurricanes.
“Just a bad play, a play I’d love to have back,” Hall said Sunday from the team’s hotel. “I think at that point in the game where we’re in a good spot, and going on the backhand in the middle of the ice with a few guys surrounding you is probably not the right play. So just learn from it, but those things can’t happen.”
Hall has played more than 900 NHL regular season games, but he’s never advanced this far in the playoffs in his previous 14 seasons. Even 33-year-old veterans learn lessons come playoff time.
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour criticized the play but also highlighted that it was the kind of mistake the defending Stanley Cup champions aren’t making in this series.
“We’re in a 1-1 game going into the third; it’s probably not a time to try a drop pass in the neutral zone,” Brind’Amour said. “Like, it’s not there. … I don’t think (the Panthers) would do that. I guarantee you they wouldn’t because it’s not probably beneficial.”
2. As the game unraveled for Carolina, the Panthers sent pucks in the net and messages after the whistle. Late in the game, Florida agitator extraordinaire Matthew Tkachuk pummeled the Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho as he was on the ice, and there was little reaction from the other Carolina players.
“I just think that it was a bit of a tough look there,” Hall said of the sequence. “But we’re a very cohesive team and we love each other, and we will battle for each other to no end. … We have to support each other and make sure that all five of us are kind of having each other’s backs.”
The difficult part is striking a balance between pushing back on the Panthers and not winding up in the penalty box. The tone was set early in Game 1 when Aho reacted to a two-handed slash by Florida’s Anton Lundell and was the only one to receive a penalty, leading to the Panthers’ first goal of the series.
Carolina forward Jordan Martinook said Florida saves their extracurriculars for when they’re ahead, looking to rattle its opponent for the games to come. One way to avoid that? Get ahead on the scoreboard — something the Hurricanes haven’t done this series.
“We haven’t had a lead, so that changes everything,” Martinook said. “I think when you look at the game when it’s 1-1, there’s not a whole lot of that going on. It’s when they get up, and then that’s what happens.”
Brind’Amour echoed that, agreeing that more needed to be done during that specific moment but that his team can’t be goaded into taking bad penalties.
“In that situation, it probably does,” Brind’Amour said of their needing to be more of a reaction. “I think there’s a fine line there, obviously, but when the game’s out of hand, if that’s what it ends up being, you don’t want to start advocating for that kind of hockey, necessarily. But yes, we needed to be able to do a better job of that. In that situation, with the score being what it was.”
3. The biggest move Brind’Amour made in Game 3 was starting goalie Pyotr Kochetkov over Frederik Andersen. The end result was similar, but Kochetkov did keep the Hurricanes in the game early.
“I thought, overall, he gave us a chance,” Brind’Amour said. “And that’s what you ask of the goalie.”
The coach was reluctant to confirm he’d return to Kochetkov for Game 4, but it sounded like a strong consideration.
“We’re in the third period; it’s at least a game, and it’s partially because he was solid,” Brind’Amour said of Kochetkov. “And that’s good reason enough to put him back in if we do.”
Defensemen Jalen Chatfield and Sean Walker missed Game 3, the fourth straight absence for the former and the first for the latter. Brind’Amour didn’t sound optimistic that either would be ready for Game 4.
“If they couldn’t play yesterday, it’s probably doubtful they’ll play tomorrow, is my guess,” said Brind’Amour, who offered the caveat that things could change on Monday.
4. Rookie defensemen Scott Morrow and Alexander Nikishin played in place of Chatfield and Walker, and Brind’Amour said his rookies — four in all, including Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake — were a bright spot.
The sky is the limit for Nikishin, who looked more poised and polished in his second career game.
“That was a positive last night, his game, because his first game wasn’t very positive. It was a little rough,” Brind’Amour said of Nikishin, who made his NHL debut in Game 5 of the Washington series. “And now he looked like he had played more than one game in North America.”
Brind’Amour attributed the improvement to the work Nikishin has put in with assistant coach Tim Gleason.
“(Gleason) has worked with him daily on how to play and how we want to play,” Brind’Amour said. “He knows how to play. But even with the language issue, he’s picking it up really quickly. And that’s helped.
“It’s been a month now, right, since he’s been here. So every day, going through stuff, and that’s really encouraging from an organizational standpoint (to) us trusting him if we have to play him tomorrow. That’s a positive.”
A few people in the Hurricanes front office expressed their optimism about Nikishin during Saturday’s game. Is he going to turn around this series single-handedly? Probably not. But it’s a glimpse into what’s ahead for Carolina’s defense.
Meanwhile, Stankoven has been among the Hurricanes’ best players all postseason, and he was again at the top of the heap in Game 3. He scored the tying goal on the power play in the second period and also picked up an assist at the end of the game on Jarvis’ power play tally.
“I got to witness (Stankoven) firsthand because I was playing with him. He was phenomenal,” Martinook said. “I felt like he was pushing the whole game and made a ton of great plays, and obviously (he) had the goal and the assist.”
5. It’s desperation time for the Hurricanes as the franchise looks to avoid a 16th straight conference final loss dating back to 2009.
Defenseman Brent Burns said the Hurricanes need to embrace what’s possible.
“You don’t get those chances very often to be within the last four teams,” he said. “At the end of the day, that’s a great opportunity. We’ve just got to win the next one.”
For two periods Saturday, the Hurricanes felt like they were finally in the series, and it’s a mentality they want to recreate to start Game 4.
“I think that we have a lot of belief in our room, honestly,” Hall said, “and up until that turnover last night, I think that belief was really starting to grow. … We’re playing for our season, so there’s no point thinking about what happened previously.”
Martinook said the key will be remaining composed in a tight game.
“You’ve got to just be comfortable playing that 1-1 game or 0-0 game and just trust the process of you’re going to try to wear them down and you’ll get your chance, and then you’ve got to bury it,” he said.
Burns, who turned 40 in March and has an uncertain future with his contract expiring at the end of the season, preached moving on from the previous three games and focusing on the task at hand.
“You’ve got to get rid of the nerves,” he said. “You’ve got to get rid of all the tightness in you. And we’ve got to have our best game. … We know we can be tough to handle if we’re all playing together.”
What’s the best way to not have a season — and perhaps a career — end?
“Not lose the fourth,” Burns added.
