Hurricanes embrace 2-day break ahead of Game 4 of Stanley Cup Final

LAS VEGAS -- Forget the “Vegas flu,” the disease visiting teams seem to catch when they come to Sin City and perform like they’ve been out all night. This might be the best place for the Carolina Hurricanes to find a cure for their ills after a loss that made them stick to their stomachs.

After fighting back from a four-goal third-period deficit in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, the Hurricanes fell to the Vegas Golden Knights 5-4 in double overtime when a shot banked off the end boards, bounced off the back of the goalie’s left skate and slid into the net.

It was brutal, and it put them behind 2-1 in the best-of-7 series entering Game 4 here Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC).

How do you recover physically, mentally and emotionally, knowing how important Game 4 will be? Teams that have fallen behind 3-1 in the Cup Final have gone 1-38 in the series in NHL history. The only team to come back and win it was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings.

How do you handle it in Las Vegas in particular? Do you draw the curtains in your hotel room, block out the distractions of the Strip and have a bunker mentality?

Nope.

“That doesn’t bother me,” captain Jordan Staal said. “If anything, getting away from the game isn’t all that bad. Going out for a nice dinner is good stuff. I think the body needs to get away and rest, and we’ve got a great hotel and good food. … There’s no better place really to recoup in a different city.”

Instead of a one-day break between games, the teams had a two-day break this time, and that probably benefited the Hurricanes especially.

“Definitely think the extra day helps,” forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. “Whenever you lose a game, especially in the (Cup Final), it (stinks). But we’re down 2-1. We’ve got to bounce back.”

On Sunday, the Hurricanes went over video and visited a UFC training center to use the recovery facilities -- something they couldn’t have done in any other city, something befitting this heavyweight fight. Then they were on their own. This is the Cup Final. The coaches could trust the players to be smart.

“The afternoon was up to us to spend time with family, spend time away from the rink not thinking about hockey,” forward Seth Jarvis said. “And I think in moments like this when it’s stressful, to get away from it a little bit is good for everybody.”

What better place to do that than Las Vegas?

“You want to get our mind away from it,” forward Jordan Martinook wrote in his blog on NHL.com. “I know a lot of guys have family and friends here. This is a city where you aren’t going to be recognized a ton, because there are a lot of people here just to be here. Take your mind away from it when you can.”

On Monday, the Hurricanes went through a full practice, a rarity this time of year. They had a chance to work on some things, and they do need to make some adjustments. Mostly, though, they just need to reset, get back to their game and try to sustain it -- if not for 60 minutes, realistically, then for longer stretches.

“We’ve just got to execute our game plan,” Staal said. “That’s been the original foundation this whole year, and we have to do it better than they do.”

Asked about the Golden Knights scoring in bunches, Ehlers said it’s simple for the Hurricanes.

“We know the way that we need to play,” he said. “We’ve talked about some things over the last two days that we need to do better in those moments as well. I’m not going to sit here and tell you everything. But you’re right. We’ve got to be a lot better at stopping the bleeding a lot earlier.

“They’re a great team. They’re going to get their chances. But we’ve got to limit how big those chances are and help our goalies out a lot more than we have and just play better.”

Rod Brind’Amour said he’d prefer to play right away after a loss like the one in Game 3. Get over it. Get past it as quickly as possible. But he’s not a player anymore and not on the ice himself. He’s the coach.

“These guys put so much into the game mentally and physically that maybe it’s nice to have a (two-day break),” he said. “Especially the way that game went, you need another little reset day. We had a positive day today, so I think (it helps) get the feeling better. Hopefully it helps our group.”