They Said It: Brind’Amour, Jarvis, Lyon following overtime loss to Panthers

The five-game win streak came to an end for the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday night in PNC Arena, though the point streak moved to six games as the Canes battled from behind to force overtime against the Florida Panthers.

The Panthers ultimately won it 4-3 in the extra period, with Anthony Duclair netting the game-winning goal. For the Canes, Alex Lyon played a heck of a game in the crease, stopping 32 of 36 shots faced just hours after being added to the active roster. Lyon really settled in as the game went along, giving Carolina a chance and helping to earn the point.

Teuvo Teravainen, Brady Skjei and Seth Jarvis were the goal scorers for the Hurricanes, with Skjei extending his goal streak to three games and Jarvis tying things up in the third period on a beautiful breakaway chance.

Following the overtime loss, head coach Rod Brind’Amour, Jarvis and Lyon spoke with members of the media via Zoom.

Here is what they had to say:

Rod Brind’Amour

On Lyon’s performance: We kind of threw him into the mix here, and he was good. He would probably like to have that first one back, but then he dug in and made some real big saves. He allowed us to at least get back in the game and at least have a chance to squeak it out. He was good.

On the team’s performance in the second leg of a back-to-back after a long time off: We were slow again tonight. We had a lot of guys that didn’t play good. Let’s just leave it at that. It was tough a handful of guys that you could say ‘wow, they were on their game tonight.’ When you’re playing a team like that and we’re not sharp, that’s going to be tough. I give the guys credit for digging in a little. The third period was better, for sure. That kind of started looking like a semblance of a game. But you can’t spot teams periods where we’re not very good. That’s not going to work.

On Jarvis’ speed and his goal: It’s a good goal. Nice read on the play. We had a transition breakout. It was a great pass, too. But yeah, that’s talent. You can’t teach that.

Seth Jarvis

On his speed setting up his goal: Yeah, after my first step I felt like I, when I pushed off, I felt like I had open space. Then it’s just a matter of keeping my feet moving. When I kind of pulled away that’s when I could set my feet and kind of pick my spot. I was lucky enough that it went in.

On how he feels his game is progressing: I feel good. I’m playing kind of up and down the lineup right now, so it’s nice that I can show I can kind of contribute no matter if I’m playing first line, fourth line or anywhere in between. I think my game as a whole is coming in really well, and I think I’m kind of carving out an identity for myself as an NHL player.

On the spark that was provided by the lines getting flipped around: I think it’s always nice when things were a little stale, like they were in the first period. I think we didn’t really do much of anything and kind of shot ourselves in the foot coming out like that. I think when [Brind’Amour] switched up the lines and mixed it up, I think everybody kind of took a deep breath and there was more sign of life. I think all lines kind of woke up and started trying to get back in the game.

On Lyon’s performance, especially late in the game: Definitely later in the game he was awesome for us. He made some huge saves. Like you said, he hasn’t played in weeks. Going against Florida, who is a really offensive team and one of the best teams in the league, that’s a tough task to ask from him. But I think he played really well and gave us a chance to win.

On the back to back being what the team needed after so many days off: I think games are what we needed. You can only practice for so long before it starts getting kind of stale. There’s only so much you can work on. It’s needed to play games, especially because you can’t really practice at game speed. I think yesterday’s game was a wake-up call for everyone, just getting back into the flow of things. I think today it was more just getting back into the rhythm and getting ready to play.

Alex Lyon

On how tough it was to get his feet under him after not playing for so long: I think it’s just a matter of time. I’ve been feeling pretty good about my game this year so far. So, I knew it was going to come back around. I felt like maybe the first 30 minutes of that game I was scrambling a bit. But then I found a little bit of a rhythm there. That’s pretty typical for being out for a while. It just takes a little time to get the feel back.

On how he felt about his night: I was really proud of the fact that I let in a poor first goal and was able to battle back. I felt like I really made an effort to just calm myself and have some mental toughness. I feel proud of that. I didn’t feel that sharp. I didn’t feel really that I played that well, but at the same time I felt like I was effective at stopping the puck. Sometimes that’s just how it goes. You’re not always going to be perfect technically, sometimes it’s just about trying to get the job done. It kind of turned into that a little bit tonight. I wasn’t super sharp, but I was just trying to keep the puck out of the net. I felt that it was alright.

On when he found out he would be starting: I found out last night. I flew in and got in maybe about halfway through the third. I found out after the game. I have been in the situation enough times to know the circumstances, and so I was preparing to play. I had actually prepared to play yesterday. We were supposed to play in Rockford. So, that was a little bit of a boost. I had a good morning skate yesterday and was really honing in. It was a little easier to parlay that into today.