“The PK was solid and 5-on-5 play, we didn’t give them too much,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. “Freddie was great when he needed to be, and it’s a good start to the series.”
So much is going right for Carolina that defenseman Mike Reilly played his first game of the postseason and had two assists in place of Alexander Nikishin, who wasn’t ready to return from a concussion he sustained in Game 4 against Ottawa, and remains questionable for Game 2.
Still, the Hurricanes felt they were sloppy in some areas, even on defense.
“You don’t want to give up as many chances as we do,” forward Jordan Martinook said. “You look at all the plays that maybe it’s getting a puck out here or a missed clear.”
The Hurricanes were able to get away with those misplays in Game 1, but they know that to go on a long run in the playoffs and, ultimately, win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2006, they need to keep pushing themselves.
“You’re striving for greatness,” Martinook said. “And when you are giving up a chance, you want to look at it and figure out how you can eliminate that. So, I think we’re no different than any other team. There’s things that we can clean up every game, and we’re going to do that and try and bring our best game every time we go on the ice.”
The most glaring facet of the Hurricanes’ game that needs to improve is their power play, which was 0-for-4 Saturday with five shots on goal, but also four short-handed shots against. Carolina is just 2-for-19 (10.5 percent) with the man-advantage in the playoffs.
“It’s got to score at some point,” Brind’Amour said. “But we did some good things.”
Brind’Amour has a similar view of the Hurricanes top line of Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis, which has yet to produce a goal at 5-on-5 in the playoffs.
“I think there is another level that they’re going to need to get to, for sure, but I think they’re doing other things that are helping us, too,” Brind’Amour said. “Obviously, your top guys have got to score at some point, get on the scoresheet, because they’re playing so many minutes. But I do like the intent of which they’re playing.”
Svechnikov picked up his first point of the postseason with an assist on Stankoven’s second goal Saturday. Jarvis also got his third assist (and point) of the playoffs on that goal. His other two assists came on Aho’s empty-net goals in Game 4 in Ottawa.
