They Said It…
Rod Brind’Amour with a succinct, yet fitting description of the win…
“We were solid, for the most part. There’s obviously certain areas we could be much better at, but I thought it was tough to pick apart that game.”
Logan Stankoven on the team being on its game right from the start…
“We talked about starting like that, just keeping it simple early. Sometimes you’ve got to find the body blows to get to the head and open up the head, so I think when you can stack shifts and set up the other guys for success, good things will continue to happen.”
Shayne Gostisbehere on his shot-block leading to Stankoven’s goal and how it represents the team’s mentality as a whole…
“You’ll hear it time and time again from a bunch of guys: we’re all pulling on the same side of the rope here, we’re all the same players in the sense that we’re going to do whatever we have to do to win. You look at Fish, you look at the skill guys, they’re blocking shots too. And especially the grinders, so to say, for our team, they do it every night. For me, it was my time. I didn’t have a choice, and fortunately, it went positively and the other way.”
Frederik Andersen on finding success despite facing fewer shots than other goalies…
“The shot count is useless for me to look at, to be honest. You’re still out there for the 60 minutes, you’ve still got to focus the same way. Just pay attention to your process, I think that’s really the key. As a goalie, you get older and you learn that stuff, you get better at it. Just resetting every shift when you can… Your starting point is the same, and I think that leads to success for me. If we score or they score, it’s all about the next play, and I think that’s how you stick with it throughout a long series and a long playoffs.”
Sebastian Aho on if the team can still improve after three straight wins…
“Absolutely. That’s just (our) approach. All year, and definitely in the playoffs, we watch video every day and try to find an edge to be even better, so we’re definitely not satisfied. Obviously, it’s a good game, a good win by us, but at the same time, we’re looking to improve every day. Coaching staff has done an unbelievable job to just keep pushing us, and hopefully we can take that next step in the next game.”
Nikolaj Ehlers on going back to Raleigh with a 3-1 series lead and a chance to advance on Friday…
“It feels great, obviously. We played really well tonight, but we’ve got to get one more, and it’s not going to come easy. They’re a great team, so we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”
