A new square was placed at the front of the Lenovo Center on Monday morning.
Three down, one to do.
“Obviously, you don’t want to give them another breath,” said Hurricane head coach Rod Brind’amour during his media availability. “We also know how difficult it will be.”
The canes won match 4 in New Jersey 5-2 on Sunday to take a 3-1 advance on the Devils. They now have a chance to close the series Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. in Raleigh.
“It will be an important game for us,” said Andrei Svechnikov. “It’s always fun to play at home, fans will encourage us.”
Svechnikov returned the fans of the Devils at home early after his empty net goal gave him a hat trick on Sunday. He now has four goals for the playoffs and woke up with a sea of hats on his lawn before this morning.
“Incredible,” laughs Svechnikov. “I have good neighbors.”
Svechnikov Filling the statistics sheet was a welcome show for fans and his teammates.
“He had all the striking series, so not a surprise for me,” said Sebastian Aho. “Big body, he’s strong, plays hard, certainly a great player for us.”
It was a long road for Svechnikov, which was appointed to his first stars match in 2023 to tear his ACL this March. His production has not been at the same level since, but his recent play could be a sign of greater things to come.
“It is hard with himself when things are not doing well and that is obviously why you love him, he cares about it,” said Brind’amour. “I hope that last night can propel it to climb a little more on the score sheet.”
The match could not have started much better for Carolina on Sunday, but the arrival was adventurous. After Nico Hischier scored to reduce the advance to 3-1 in the second period, Timo Meier collided with the goalkeeper Frederick Andersen, bringing him into the post and the back of the net.
“You never want to see things like that happens, your brother goes down,” said AHO. “Obviously, Freddie played Unreal for us.”
Andersen was watched on the ice and left the match. Brind’amour did not have an update on his status during his media availability on Monday.
“I don’t know anything yet,” said Brind’amour.
Brind’amour should receive more information on Andersen’s assessment later on Monday. Pytor Kochetkov made its first appearance of the series in Relief of Andersen. After quickly abandoning a goal to Meier, Kochetkov was able to settle in the match.
“It was obviously a little risky there at first, he does not want this goal between,” said Brind’amour. “But again, how do you react, he didn’t look trembling. It’s for me.
