Brind’Amour: ‘They played a better game than we did’

After having game one of their first-round series with the Boston Bruins pushed back a day due to a five-overtime thriller between Columbus and Tampa Bay, the Carolina Hurricanes came up short in double overtime Wednesday morning, falling 4-3 to the Bruins after a Patrice Bergeron winner.

Joel Edmundson, Brock McGinn and Haydn Fleury scored for the Canes, as Carolina battled back in the third period to force overtime before eventually losing. The Canes played without Justin Williams and Sami Vatanen, who were both scratched leading up to the game.

Head coach Rod Brind’Amour met with the media via Zoom following the game one loss. Here is what he had to say:

Update: According to reports from the The Athletic and News & Observer, Brind’Amour had more to say about the game’s officiating after the Zoom call ended.

It’s hard to fault these sentiments from Brind’Amour, but it’s probably safe to say the NHL will be lightening his wallet in the near future.

On how he puts this into perspective considering the wait to play, long layoff and absence of Justin Williams: Anytime you lose in the playoffs, especially in overtime, it’s obviously a stinger. It’s what I thought was going to happen, unfortunately. I knew they were going to play a good hockey game. I knew we were going to get the best of the Bruins. I thought they were really good, and I was afraid we were going to be a little sluggish and we were. That’s to their credit. They played a better game than we did overall. I thought we got back into it a little, but we weren’t good enough to win that game.

On Brock McGinn’s shorthanded goal: They have a great power play. We don’t want to be taking all of these penalties. That call was, to get the penalty, I still can’t figure that out. But [McGinn’s goal] got us back into the game. It gave us a chance anyway, to pull out a win. The penalty kill was good.

On if Justin Williams and Sam Vatanen will be back for game two: I hope so. That’s about all I can say on that. They are definitely a possibility.

On if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that game two is Thursday: I think that’s a bonus. When you lose a game like that, you definitely don’t want to marinate on it too long. When you’ve got a chance to come back and play right away, I think that’s good. Especially because we have been sitting for so long. We’ll try to sure up a couple of things and get right back at it. That’s what you want.

On if there’s any concern that a “Big Brother Syndrome” might set in with the Canes after what happened last year and in game one against Boston: I don’t think that’s going to happen. We’ll come out with a little bit better effort and try to sure up some things. I don’t think last year has any impact with what is going on this year with our guys.

On what the difference in Carolina’s offense was late in the third period: Well, we finally got playing. That rust was certainly there. The pace of the game, we weren’t ready for. This was a grind. They grinded us down, and we weren’t quite ready for that. It got a little better as the game went on. I saw a semblance of the way we like to play. It wasn’t there enough and that’s why we were on the short end.

On when he found out that Williams and Vatanen wouldn’t be available: They were game-time decisions. We adjusted it. Hopefully, like I said, they’ll be able to go tomorrow.