After 2 double-overtime losses, Canes players help Rod Brind’Amour ‘pick up the pieces’
Brady Skjei of the Carolina Hurricanes had never played in back-to-back double-overtime games, at any level of hockey. Neither had Andrei Svechnikov.
Now, both have. And lost both. And expended a lot of energy while losing both.
The Canes’ two losses to the Nashville Predators in the Stanley Cup playoffs were frustrating and gut-wrenching. In Game 4 on Sunday, just as in Game 3, the Canes were one good shot away from victory, only to see the other team make that shot and wildly celebrate after a double-overtime win.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said he wasn’t quite sure what to expect Monday when the team gathered for meetings at PNC Arena to go over the planning for Tuesday’s Game 5.
“The mood was actually better than I thought,” Brind’Amour said. “I thought I was going to have to pick up the pieces a little bit and I didn’t. I think it was actually the other way around.”
Brind’Amour and the coaches do not play in the games but invest so much in them, emotionally and mentally. It can be draining. The players can skate and hit and shoot the puck and compete. The coach can only stand behind the bench and take it.
“That’s a part of coaching and that’s why you probably don’t have long careers in it, at least in my opinion,” Brind’Amour said. “Because it does take a toll. I said, ‘What did we do wrong, why did we lose the game?’ You go through everything.
“When I played I never blamed the coach for a win or a loss. But now that I’m here you definitely feel like, ‘OK, what could we have done differently?’ It wears on you. That’s part of the job. It’s not fun, that’s for sure.”
Changes to the Canes power-play units?
The Canes, back at PNC Arena for Game 5, will have the last change at home, allowing Brind’Amour to get more of the matchups he prefers against the Predators. There may, or may not be changes to the power-play units after the Canes’ 0-4 showing Sunday, although Brind’Amour said he was generally pleased with the zone time and some of the shots generated Sunday.
Most of the players were off the ice Monday except for those who did not play in Sunday’s game. One player not seen: defenseman Jaccob Slavin, who has missed the past three games with a lower-body injury that has become more troubling with each passing day.
Brind’Amour did not rule out Slavin for Game 5. Nor did he sound very encouraging about the prospect of Slavin playing, saying, “I wait for him to come tell me ‘I’m in’ and we’ll pencil him in.”
‘Basically starting over’ in series
Skjei and Svechnikov sounded generally upbeat Monday. Neither said they felt overly taxed physically or fatigued.
“I’m feeling fine,” said Skjei, who played 39 minutes on Sunday. “I think we work hard throughout the season for these kinds of moments. Overall, I’m not too tired.”
Skjei mentioned that Brind’Amour and Bill Burniston, the Canes’ strength and conditioning coach, have developed a well-crafted program for maintaining the players’ strength and stamina through the season and in the playoffs.
Svechnikov is 21. Most that age need shorter recovery times. With a day off the ice, the winger said, he’ll be ready for Game 5.
“We’re 2-2 and series is basically starting over,” Brind’Amour said. “The world’s not caving in. We’re starting over. We’re at home.
“We felt like we could have won and there’s where it gets tough. You have to park it. We’ve moved on and it’s about re-energizing and getting excited about the opportunity we have sitting in front of us.”
Of note
The Canes on Monday signed forward Blake Murray to a three-year, entry-level contract. At the NHL level, the deal will pay Murray $750,000 in the first two seasons and $775,000 in the third season. He will earn $65,000 at the AHL level the first two seasons and $70,000 in the third. A sixth-round draft pick in 2019, he will eceive $100,000 in signing bonuses.
Murray, 19, spent the 2020-21 season on loan with Surahammers IF of Hockeyettan, the Swedish third league. In 2019-20, he led Sudbury of the OHL with 35 goals.
Carolina Hurricanes vs Nashville Predators
What: Stanley Cup playoffs, Game 5
When: Tuesday, 8 p.m., PNC Arena, Raleigh
Watch: BSSO, CNBC
This story was originally published May 25, 2021 at 6:00 AM with the headline "After 2 double-overtime losses, Canes players help Rod Brind’Amour ‘pick up the pieces’."
