The Carolina Hurricanes lost to the Florida Panthers 5-0 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. After a brutal loss in Game 1 at home, the Canes needed Game 2 before hitting the road for the next two games. Now, they head to Sunrise down 2-0. Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour spoke to the media after the game and did not mince words, per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.
“I didn't know what I was watching in the first period. That didn't go well,” Brind'Amour said. “We're not going to beat this team if we're not on the same page. The intentions were good. Everyone's trying. But that's not how we do it, and it just backfired. I didn't feel like we were that intense for the moment that we needed. I felt like we were actually a little too casual.”
The Hurricanes managed just 17 shots on Sergei Bobrovsky in Game 2, which is not their usual game plan. Fans in the arena were chanting ‘Shoot the Puck!” which shows just how far they strayed from Brind'Amour's game plan. Without their high shot total, their lack of elite offensive talent shows itself.
The Hurricanes have now lost 14 consecutive Eastern Conference Final games dating back to 2009. While Rod Brind'Amour was a player on the team and Jordan Staal was on the other bench as a Penguin at the time, it still hangs over the franchise heading into Game 3.
Staal, now the Hurricanes captain, was also displeased with the performance on Friday. “Tonight was not great. We're going to have to own a crappy game.” Taylor Hall joined the Canes during the season and knows what this squad is capable of. “When we look up at the shot clock and see [the total], that's just not our game. That's just not how we play. We generate offense by shooting pucks and getting them back, and then we draw a penalty or get a rebound.”
The Hurricanes and Panthers play Game 3 on Saturday in Florida.