The only word missing in the coach's post-game comments was “awesome”.
If only Lindy Ruff of New Jersey had acted in her estimation lost 6-1 to On Tuesday, what Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour had to say on Sunday, Kane would almost repeat.
The Devils did almost everything right and Cain did horribly wrong in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series on Sunday. Caen lost 8-4, leaving Brind'Amour to say, “We weren't good” and adding, “I've never seen us play like that.” And, throw in “awesome”.
If it was Ruff's turn for Tuesday. The Devils took a 1–0 lead two minutes into Game 4 on a Jack Hughes goal, but Kane tied it up late in the second period and then had it all undone when Kane held on to the attack. Stayed and scored five times for a 6–1 lead.
Playing at home after a big win, the Devils fell flat, with the Prudential Center rocking, with a chance to tie the series. Cain, seemingly more experienced and more determined, now holds a 3–1 lead in the series.
Ruff said, “It's about as bad as we've had skating and backing the puck in any game this year.” “Tonight was as disappointing as I can be about a game, an important game, the way we skated.
“He flipped it. He competed hard on the puck. He won more battles than us.”
At one point in the second period, Kane center Sebastian Aho took a one, two, three fumble on the puck along the boards near the blue line while trying to break out of Carolina territory. Watching that “fight” up close, behind him on the Devils' bench, was rough.
Aho took the puck out. It was all about effort, about no denial, about making plays and Aho won.
Canes captain Jordan Staal said, “We consistently put pucks behind them and stayed on the forecheck and created turnovers.” “Push them back and tire them out and wear them out. Change a little earlier than they do and then get right back at them. It's about making a play and finishing them off.”
After the Game 3 debacle, Keys defenseman Jakub Slavin talked about how he staggered to give up eight goals. a “snowman”, as he put it — and how he believed the team would respond. It wasn't just talk.
“We played the right way,” Slavin said after Game 4. “Maybe a bit shaky start, but the guys just focused on the next innings and we played our game. It was all 20 guys competing, contributing.
“We know what makes us successful and how we have to play, and that's what happened tonight. Every part of our game was better tonight. Dives deep from forward, drives under pressure in the back, places the puck in the right places. Everyone was there tonight.
When forward Andrei Svechnikov was lost to a knee injury late in the regular season and then forward Tuvo Teravenen with a broken hand early in the playoffs, there were questions about who and how Kane would make up for his missing offense. may or may. And especially against a fast, run-and-gun team like the Devils.
The winger's assist was taken off the official scoring after Tuesday's game, but he now has nine points in the series after the goal and two assists in Game 4 that made him the first star of the game.
“It's great to see,” Stahl said with a smile. “He's on fire and you need that. It doesn't really matter who gets in this group but ‘Marty' has been a constant in the playoffs.
“He's been our best player. It's been great to watch.”
Kane scored a lot of goals in this match. Martin Necas had two goals. Jesper Faust scored. Defensemen Brett Pace and Brent Burns were the goalscorers.
In their opening playoff series against the New York Islanders, the Hurricanes took a 3–1 series lead after a Game 4 road win, returned home for Game 5 and lost a tight game. This took them back to Long Island, where the Canes closed it out and prevented a pressing Game 7.
“It can go back and forth,” Slavin said. “We know they are going to do better in the next game and we just have to do what we did tonight. We just have to play our game and take care of ourselves.”