Rod Brind’Amour on whether having home ice advantage puts the Canes in the driver's seat for the rest of the series…
“Both teams play well on the road. You get to this stage of the year… you wouldn't get here if you didn't, so I don't know how much of an advantage it has been or will be. I mean, I hope it is, but certainly not counting on that.”
Rod Brind’Amour on if he can appreciate the drama and entertainment value of the series so far…
“I wish I could because it has been really exciting, but not from a coach's perspective. It's very stressful the way the game is unfolding. It's not really how you're drawing it up sometimes, but that's, that's what the other teams, they're forcing you to do things a little differently, and I think both teams are kind of doing that. To enjoy it, I wish I could, but that's certainly not what's happening…"
Sebastian Aho on the Canes’ bounceback ability following a loss all season long…
“We go through, very honestly, what we did good and what we did bad, and guys have responded to the message. Everybody does it. Everyone goes through their video and talks about their stuff. I think we battle hard. We've worked our tails off all year, and I think, also in those little, you know, details that coaches have asked, we've responded… Roddy talks about it all the time — when you compete night in and night out, you're going to give yourself a chance to win.”
Sebastian Aho on Jordan Staal entering the national spotlight this series…
“In our room, he's always had his spotlight. He does so much for us. We all know in our room how big of a player he is for us. He's taken a lot of draws, he's killing all the penalties, he’s very hard to play against. It’s just his presence; he’s obviously our leader, our captain, and he’s so big. Obviously, now he gets more attention probably from [the media], but like I said, he does so much for us, and he has always gotten that attention from us.”
Jaccob Slavin on trying to contain the skill of the Vegas forwards…
“It's not easy. They play a pretty direct game with a lot of skill. Even their skilled guys, you see them dumping the puck in if they don't have anything. For us, I think our biggest key is making sure that we have all five guys back and our forwards are backchecking. They're doing a good job with that. As a D corps, we have to make sure we're not letting guys get behind us.”
