'They Were Two Of Our Better Players Tonight': Rod Brind'Amour, Mikko Rantanen, Taylor Hall On New Teammates, OT Loss

The Carolina Hurricanes lost 3-2 in overtime Saturday night to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena.

The Canes blew a 2-0 lead which they jumped out to early in the first period thanks to goals from Jack Roslovic and Sebastian Aho, but they just couldn't capitalize on enough chances to put the game away.

Following the loss, Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour along with newly acquired forwards Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall spoke with the media in New York. Here's what they had to say:

Rod Brind'Amour

On the game: Hockey's weird. Our first two periods were terrible and then our third was pretty good. We had a ton of chances and they kind of get a weird one on a high stick — is it in the zone, is it not in the zone —faceoff and then it's in your net. And then overtime. It was kind of a weird game. I liked our third, certainly didn't enjoy the first two periods.

On the faceoff disparity: Puck possession is huge. Starting with the puck. In the third period, we were a little better. Whole period was better, but that was a big part of it. We got ahead and we just didn't stay on it as well as we should have. And then overtime, anything can happen. We made a poor decision with the puck and there you go.

On the new guys: I thought Rantanen had a few chances all night. He had four or five shots all within good range and then Hall in the third, when we gave him a little more opportunity, all of a sudden he was very noticeable. It's going to take some time. They don't really have any idea of how we need to play and where we need to be, but they're good hockey players as we know. We need to be better around them though. The rest of the group needs to be better.

On Taylor Hall: I said, we gotta get him more ice time and the way the game was flowing, it just didn't happen. Then found a way in the third and he was good.

On the timeline for acclimating: I thought they were two of our better players tonight so maybe I should just leave them alone. But it's more about the other guys getting used to them and where they're going to be on the ice. You could see a few times tonight. Aho didn't have great reads on where he was going to go. You could just see that they were not flowing, so hopefully that will eventually click.

Mikko Rantanen

On the trade: It was surprising a little bit, you know, but obviously excited to be here. Very good team. Lots of good players and the setup here is really good, so excited to be part of it, for sure.

On chemistry with Sebastian Aho: I think it's only going to get better. We haven't played together in 10 years probably. The last time was in juniors somewhere, but he's a good players. Very smart player and easy to play with. So hopefully we can get the chemistry building and get some offense going.

On what about this team he thinks makes them a true contender: I think the mentality in the group is very good. You can tell they've been in the playoffs every year and there's good standards. In the playoffs, it's small, little things that can decide a series so it just hasn't gone this team's way yet, but I think with the experience they have, hopefully I can help when we get there.

On the hardest part of the first game with a new team: Obviously finding out last night, not a lot of sleep, lots of emotions going through because it was 10 years in Colorado. It was a long time, so maybe that's the hardest. But I felt pretty good today. Got better for sure, but I think there's a lot of good players around here and the system is good, so it should be good.

On if he's even been able to process it all yet: I don't think so. It happened too quick and today was a game so I had to get ready for the game. So maybe when we have a couple of days off here. I really just want to think about the future. It's behind us now and it's a raw business in the NHL. Sometimes it goes like this. But yeah, I think it's going to hit a little bit as it maybe hasn't hit yet.

On if he had any idea a trade was possible: I was shocked yesterday. I was surprised, but I don't really want to get into too much details, but it was a surprise for sure.

Taylor Hall

On joining Carolina: The standards here are high and that's really exciting for me.

On the opportunity to join a contender: It's exciting, 100%. I've been in the playoffs before and had a little bit of success, but you still have that strong desire as your career goes on and you never know how many years you have left. So to have a chance at a deep playoff run and hopefully something special with this group is something that I've really been excited for and I look forward to kind of building my own game into what the group needs however I can contribute.

On if he had the chance to speak with Mikko Rantanen at all about what it's like to be traded: Not really. I just met him this morning as we were meeting the guys at the same time. This is a really established group. They've played together for a long time and when new guys come in, it's our job to fit in and it's our job to make the group better, any way we can. Mikko's an unbelievable player and he's going to figure it out. It's more just emotional for him. When you're with a team for so long, it doesn't just happen overnight and as much as you want it to and as much as there's some good Finnish dudes here, it's going to take some time for him. The best part is actually just playing the games because you don't have to think about it.

On getting going on the forecheck: We're a forechecking team and that's how Carolina's played for a long time. Like I said, it's my job to bring whatever I can. Speed and whatever skill I can, but also there's a way they play here that's been successful, so I'm going to keep getting used to it.

On his impression of Rod Brind'Amour: He's awesome. You can tell he's into every game, every shift and he sets a high standard here and that's what you want from a coach. I think he's someone who you have to build his trust and once you get it, he believes in you and there's nothing more that you want from a coach. I have talked with a lot of guys and heard nothing but good things. Not only as a coach and mentor, but as a guy and as a motivator. That's exciting for me.

On Connor Bedard's comments: I loved Bedsy. He's such a good kid and I'm going to miss just chatting with him. I really enjoyed the mentor aspect of our relationship, but as we became friends, I didn't really look at myself as a mentor, he was just a buddy of mine and I enjoyed our time together. I think the sky's the limit for him, not only as a player, but as a leader and as the guy going forward for that team. There's a few young guys that bring a lot of energy, are at the rink smiling and they love hockey. It was fun to be around them.

On if he knew he was coming to Carolina: I pretty much knew. I found out why it was taking so long [motions to Mikko Rantanen]. Totally understandable, but happy to be here.

On getting some shifts with Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Andrei Svechnikov: Yeah, 100%. Lines were changing and I think Rod was just trying to find some balance or some momentum and those are two really good players. Big guys, strong guys who are strong on pucks. Svech, I've played against him for a long time and the same with KK. They see the game well and they're big. I just wanted to get in and have a couple of good shifts where we could kind of feel each other out and get the puck. That's when you start getting momentum as a line. After a couple of good shifts. It just doesn't happen like that. That was fun. The third period was a lot of fun.

On Carolina being his seventh team: It is. You never start your career thinking you're going to play for seven teams, especially if you go as high in the draft as I did, but it's just kind of the way it's gone. I do think about it and it's not the way I expected, but I think for a lot of guys, this is how their careers go. There's a very few select players who get to play with one or two teams. Look at as good of a player as Mikko. So I really think it's helped me just kind of build emotional intelligence. I've met so many staff and so many players and so many coaches and so many flight attendants every place I've gone and I really think that's helped me become a better guy. But at the same time, I'd love for this to be the last. I'm tired of moving around. I think COVID had a lot to do with it too. I became a free agent at the start of COVID and that set the wheels in motion for playing on a bunch of different teams, but I'm here now and I'm excited about it.