They Said It: Brind’Amour, Aho, Kotkaniemi talk on the offensive win in Philadelphia

The Carolina Hurricanes capped off their six-game road trip with a big, 6-3, offensive win against the Philadelphia Flyers.

After the game, head coach Rod Brind’Amour along with Sebastian Aho (2 goals) and Jesperi Kotkaniemi (1 goal, 1 assist) spoke with the media.

Here’s what they had to say:

Rod Brind’Amour

On what stood out most from the game: That the puck went into the net. Felt the same as a couple of the other games we’ve had. We were getting opportunities, just this time we connected on them. That’s what stood out the most for me.

On the impact of the forecheck: This game felt the same as the last one we played as far as how we were getting our opportunities created in the same way. It’s just that we were able to capitalize on them, where in the last few games, we really haven’t connected on them. Tonight we did.

On if he made any adjustments going into the second period: Not really. I thought our first period was actually really good. Tough first shift and then you give up a shorty. You take that out of it and we had a really good first period, we just didn’t capitalize on our chances. Then in the second, all of our grade-As seemed to go in. I don’t think we did anything differently, we just got to our game and, really for the whole night, we played our game the way we needed to.

On the execution of all six goals: We do have some talent for sure. But most of them came off of doing it right. Creating the turnovers, that’s what the message is. We’ll be able to score some rush goals doing it that way, but you’re not going to get a lot that way, that’s for sure. But it was nice to see.

On mounting the comeback on the tailend of a long road trip: I think that’s the biggest takeaway. Just flying across the country yesterday after a couple of tough games. It just feels like we’ve been on the road forever and I know every team has these, but this one felt really long because normally you fly out and then come home and then you play another one. I just thought the guys dug in tonight. Not always going to be fortunate to get those results, but it was nice to see.

On Andrei Svechnikov getting back in the goal column: I don’t really focus on that. I know he does. He wants to score every shift, let alone every night. So when he goes a long stretch without scoring, it certainly builds on him. But that was a big goal. Early in the third and it just kind of puts the game out of reach and we just kind of cruised through the third period, which you don’t often have that.

On the power play rut: It’s only a rut because we haven’t scored. Tonight was bad though. It was the first bad power play game that we’ve had. I liked the power play game that we had in Seattle. I liked some of the other stuff, but tonight was just bad all around. Give the other team credit, they were really pressuring us and a lot of the time it makes it look that way. It’s great when you can win 6-3 and say, “Our power play stunk!” But there’s always something to work on.

Sebastian Aho

On the comeback win: You gain a little confidence when you’re down a goal and come back and win a game like that. Those are moments that you have to carry with you and it creates a little belief in the team.

On his goals: The first one, I knew Teravainen was going to give the puck to me. It was kind of a weird situation with the scrum in the corner and I just decided to take a shot and it went in. A little lucky, but it was a sneaky shot there. Sometimes those go in. The second one, I think it was Brett Pesce who held the line there. Pretty good job by him. Then Necas had a good play, getting the puck to me with speed. Same thing kind of from there. With fresh ice and the first shift of the period, I decided to shoot and it was a good shot.

On fatigue contributing to the rough start: To me, I think it’s all mental. You can say fatigue, but at the same time, you can’t be exhausted in the first period if you’re not in the third. It was one of those mental things.

On finishing off the road trip with a big offensive showing: I was not too worried about the scoring. We have some high-skilled guys who can score so I know we can score a bunch of goals. But those are two points against a good team. It was the right way to finish the road trip.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi

On the points starting to come: It’s always good to get a couple of points in. This was a good game for the whole team. Raanta was really good in the net and he guaranteed the win for us.

On coming back from two deficits: I think our key has been how consistent we’ve been on the road. We just keep pushing the same style of play every night and it’s been working so far. Just need to keep that going.

On if he’s more comfortable moving back to center: Yeah, I think so. I’ve been playing center a little longer than wing so it’s a little more natural for me and I think overall I’m getting the system of the game a little bit better here and getting used to it.

On what he likes most about playing at center: I like that you’re a little more involved in the game and when you’re skating you can just keep going and you don’t have to stop that much. I think that’s good for me.