RALEIGH — A first-round sweep of Ottawa earned the Carolina Hurricanes some much-needed rest in the NHL playoffs.
But how long of a break is too long for a team that was dialed in against the Senators? The Hurricanes will take on the winner of the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh series in the second round.
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Pittsburgh has won two straight games to extend the series to Wednesday’s Game 6. A potential Game 7 would be on Saturday, which means more than a week off for the Hurricanes.
“You like having a few days for sure to heal some bumps and bruises, but playing pretty well, pretty dialed in, you run the risk of being a little rusty, but it’s out of your control,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said.
Carolina, the top seed in the East, never trailed in the series against Ottawa.
“There might be a little bit of a rust factor when we start back up, but I mean, that’s a pretty good thing to have to worry about,” Brind’Amour said.
Forward Nicolaj Ehlers missed Game 4 against Ottawa, and defenseman Alexander Nikishin (concussion) was knocked out on a vicious hit in the second period. Brind’Amour said Tuesday that he’s hopeful both players will be ready for the next series. Nikishin, he said, is trending in the right direction. Neither player practiced Tuesday.
The hit on Nikishin set off a physical and penalty-filled second period. There were 11 penalties in the period, eight against the Hurricanes, who rushed in to defend Nikishin. For a team often portrayed as not gritty enough in the postseason, it may have marked a turning point. Veteran Seth Jarvis pointed to that period as the biggest takeaway from the series.
“We did a really good job of staying up for each other, not backing down,” Jarvis said. “I think in years past maybe we get a little bit intimidated, a little shy in those moments. I thought our team did a really good job responding and kind of weathering that.”
Jarvis had two assists in the series, both on empty net goals late in Game 4, as Carolina’s top line was held in check offensively. But it had a stellar defensive series, helping to shut down the Senators’ attack.
It was the line of Logan Stankoven, Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake that provided the scoring punch. The trio combined for seven goals and nine assists. They were plus-11 in the series. Carolina scored 11 goals and allowed five in the series as goaltender Frederik Andersen posted a .955 save percentage across the four victories.
“It’s good mentally, too,” said Stankoven, who scored one goal in each of the victories against Ottawa. Stankoven has 11 goals in his last 14 games. “I think once you get into a series, it’s a grind and that’s your sole focus the whole time. So once a series is over, it’s nice just to chill for a few days, regroup and then I like to watch the other games, too, and kind of get a pre-scout on who we might be playing.”
Brind’Amour on Dundon: ‘He wants to win’
Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon, who promoted Brind’Amour from assistant coach to head coach just months after taking control of the team, has faced criticism from NBA media for cost-cutting moves in the weeks since he took control of the Portland Trail Blazers.
“He wants to win,” Brind’Amour said Tuesday when asked about Dundon’s ownership. “All I know is since he’s taken over, we win — and he paid the players. He said, ‘What do you need?’ I said, we can’t be $25 million below what everybody else is paying. That’s not going to work. And he wrote a check to the players. That’s good enough for me. When a guy wants to win and gives us a fair fight, that’s the kind of owner you want.”
Dundon became majority owner of the franchise in January 2018. The Hurricanes were 29th in a 30-team NHL in salary cap allocations in 2018-19, $22 million behind Detroit. The next season, the Hurricanes were No. 2 and remained in the top eight for the subsequent three seasons. Carolina is No. 27 this season, but has its entire core locked up, signed one of the top free agents in Ehlers and traded for defenseman K’Andre Miller and signed him to an extension in the offseason.
“Now there’s all those other things behind the scenes and everyone’s talking about cutting this, that, whatever,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s his business. That’s just the bottom line stuff. But I can only speak to what I know, and I know he wants to win.”
