On having a long wait now until the Eastern Conference Final: Well, it's a good thing because we're going to be one of four teams left. So however long we’ve got to rest or be off, we'll do it. I think the good part is we just literally had the exact same thing, and we had a plan, and clearly it was okay, so we can follow that and run with it.

On what it means to get to the conference final again and how to get over the hump: It's a huge accomplishment, and you have to, right now, you need to soak that part of it in because it is. The season is so long, and there's that 82-game season we talk about that no one really gives much credit to, and yet, this team's played well for eight months. It didn't just get hot at the end or just started. It’s been night in, night out like this, and to me, that's the biggest takeaway for me. Probably the thing I'm most proud of with this group. And now, here we are. We've got to find a way to get that next step, and that's obviously easier said than done. But I know one thing is they're going to give that same effort, and that's what we have to have.

On Taylor Hall winning a faceoff leading to a goal: You don’t draw those up like that. But like I said, that line has just been incredible, obviously. Hallsy, you’ve got to get him a lot of credit with how he's played. Blaker and Stanks, they’ve just really meshed, and you just saw it tonight. It was obvious. The best guys out there for us, and we needed them.

On the fourth line: They were great too. Tough one on the called back goal, but really, you just look at the shifts, they're just positive. Every shift was like almost, almost. Janks had two or three on his stick. He had the empty net on one. Again, that's what you have to have this time of year. You need everyone contributing.
On players saying that there's still another level to get to: I think they understand that there is. There’s going to need to be when we get to that next stage or whoever we're playing. And one of the things again about this group, they're an honest group. They can assess their game and their team game, and even though we won, they know that we got to get a little better.

Jackson Blake

On the game-winning goal: A lot went down on that goal. Slavo makes an unbelievable play and then Stanks middle line drives and pushes those D back and then Hallsy makes a play that not a lot of people can make there. Fortunately got the bounce and it went in. A lot of great plays there.

On his celebration: I mean, I blacked honestly. Once I saw it go in, just excitement. I was just happy that we could get the win and go home and get a little rest here.

On making it to back-to-back conference finals: I remember Hallsy even told me this last year, he said what you're doing right now isn't normal. You don't always get to go to the conference finals and stuff like that. It being my second year and to already reach it again is pretty special and the culture and the group we have this year, it's another level from even last year. I think last year we had a great group and we were really tight knit, but this year, it just feels a little different, I don't know what it is, but I like the way we're rolling.

On the 8-0 start: Everyone is contributing. Top to bottom. Like we said earlier too, Freddie's been... I don't know if I've ever seen a goalie play so good and handle the puck so well and do what he's doing back there. We have so much trust in him and what he's gonna bring every night. And our PK too has just been off the charts. That builds so much momentum for us. Most teams have good power plays, like the teams we've played so far*, and for them to do what they do is pretty special. Everyone has been so good and it's been a lot of fun coming to the rink every day.

On the team's response after giving up the first goal: Our first period wasn't great tonight, but I just loved the way that Hallsy and Stanks battle and compete every single night. In the second period, we just decided that we were going to play a little more simple and do it the way we know we can. Fortunately, we got a couple there to help the team win, but I think every night... you're not going to score every night, but you're going to do everything you can to help the team win. Tonight, fortunately, we did.

Taylor Hall

On Frederik Andersen: He's so calm and you're almost just expecting it every night now and that's kind of unfair to him, but he forces them to almost make the perfect shot or the perfect play to score on him. He's a huge reason why our PK is where it is. And then what some people might not notice is how he handles the puck. He's so calm back there and he makes the right play every time and that makes it a lot easier on our D.

On his faceoff win leading to the team's opening goal: I think sometimes for faceoff guys like [Christian] Dvorak, it's hard to go against someone like me. They don't really know what I'm gonna do or how I'm gonna take the faceoff. We had a play kind of drawn up there, but... I don't know. It's just a 50/50 battle at the end of the day. If we can get the puck back and get to our game, which we did as a line in the second period really well, that's how we want to play.

On the faceoff strategy: I'm on my off side and he's on his strong side, so he obviously wants to get in there, but I just tried to let him go first and then swipe at the puck after. I'm not even sure if that's how it went down, but like I said, it's just a puck battle at the end of the day and if you can get your body over the circle, then it gives you an advantage.

On the team's response: At the first intermission, we kind of knew that that wasn't the greatest first period for us. I know us as a line, we just wanted to get to our game and play in their end and forecheck. We know that the strength of our game as a team and as a line is forechecking and disruption and we got to that in the second period and we didn't really look back. Even though the score was tied, we felt like we were in the control.

On how reinvigorating it was for him as a player to join Carolina: It's unreal. It's everything I could ask for. To play on a line with Blakey and Stank and to be a line for 50-60 games, it's a lot of fun to come to work right now. We're winning and it feels like everyone is contributing. I've said this before, we work hard, but we do it with a smile on our face. It's a fun work environment and it's not like this everywhere. There are some places where it's like this, but this is pretty cool.

On Sean Walker making it to the game after going home to be with his wife for the birth of his daughter: It's awesome. He played really well too. He was jumping up in the play and he's just so good at exiting the zone and using his skating to carry the puck up the ice. I think he's getting confidence just more and more when he does that. Him and Key have been a great pair for us, they were tonight as well. But it's awesome to see. A life changing moment. I think he was a little bit stressed in the last couple weeks just on when it was gonna happen, if it was gonna be a game day or if he was gonna miss a game because when you looked at the due date, it was right around the second round of the playoffs. I think he was happy that it happened the way it did. You just have so much energy after seeing your kid born, so I wasn't worried about him in the least.

On the team's consistency: We don't have to change our game or the way we play a lot from the regular season. It's the same way. I think we've upped the physicality a bit and we hammer on the details, but the way we play is the exact same. I know it might look different from game to game, but there doesn't have to be a lot of thinking out there, at least that's how I feel. Consistency, everyone chipping in, everyone doing their job, coaching staff has been awesome, the penalty kill is really the engine of our team right now and it feels good.

On rest versus rust (again): It's probably going to be an even longer break this time. There's positives and negatives to it. I think the big positive is that we're onto the third round relatively unscathed and healthy. You don't want to see injuries per say, but we hope these series go far and you see these teams have battles. That's the advantage that we're gonna have. They're going to be hockey ready if the series goes long, but I think Rod, our strength staff, all of our staff do a good job of making sure we're ready athletically to play and from there, we get our footing pretty quickly.

Frederik Andersen

On closing out the series: There were a lot of different games, but I think they pushed really hard in this game. I don't think we came out the best way into the first period, kind of came tiptoeing into it, but I thought we came back better and better. Stuck with it and obviously got rewarded. Just a great job by everyone just to continue to battle for each other and eventually get that goal.

On the key to the series: When we get to our game, we're hard to play against and I think it wears guys down. We always talk about getting to our game and that's really what makes it hard for them. Spending time in their zone is taxing for the other team and that's what we want to try to do as much as possible.

On the 8-0 start: Every series is a race to four. That's our mindset. You want to win the next one however we have to do that. That's really the focus. Obviously winning quick is beneficial in terms of getting rest and getting ready for the next one. We're happy to do that and put them away. Obviously they fought back, but you really don't want to add extra games if you can avoid it.

On not seeing many shots, but still having to make a few difficult saves: For me, it was just about staying with it. That's the key for me, just expect whatever they got. I don't really look at the chances and quality and all that. I'm just trying to be in the moment and whatever happens. If I save the one before or don't, I just try to make the next one. That's my focus.

On making another conference final: You have to get through the conference final to win it. It takes four series. We're happy with the work we've put in so far. We obviously talk about it a lot. Obviously the first step is to make the playoffs and we've taken big steps toward that, but we've just continued to push and again, we have a lot of experience. It's going to be a good battle in the next series no matter what happens.

On the save on Garnet Hathaway in the third period: He made a good pass over and I just tried to cover as much space as possible. I felt like I got the pad on it, obviously I didn't know where it was after that, but obviously that was huge [for Slavin to clear it right after]. He's so smart defensively. He's not the only guy that thinks to do that, but he definitely is there and tries to be an extra layer.

Logan Stankoven

On getting back on the scoresheet: I thought the first period, I didn't play great, just individually. We talked about it as a line in between periods. We had to be simpler and even if we're not scoring, just try and create some momentum and some O-zone shifts. We did, and we were able to cash in a few times, so it was nice. Great to get back on the board.
On Jaccob Slavin’s gap leading to the game-winning goal: I think just being tight on our guys and we always talk about our forwards reloading hard and backing up the D, so that allows him to pinch there and create a great turnover. And then I think just with our speed, we can attack. A great play by Hallsy, and Blaker just put it in.
On Dan Vladar's game: I thought both goalies were great. For the last period and a bit and most of overtime, I thought we had the better of the chances and just knew if we could stay 5-on-5, we could dominate. I thought we were able to have some Grade-A chances, and like you said, he made some great saves,

On Frederik Andersen: He's just so calm back there, and we have a lot of trust in him. Yeah, he’s fun to watch. He just battles hard, and it's what you need in big games like this.
On back-to-back sweeps: I honestly think we have another level to get to, I still think. Our stat wasn't great again tonight. So I think we are playing well and it's great to get the sweeps, but I think we do have another level to get to. And I'm sure if you could ask any of the guys, they'd agree with me.
On Sean Walker: It's really exciting for him. I can't imagine going through that and just where your head's at. And he came out and battled hard, and he didn't look out of place at all. So really happy for him and his family, and we're going to need him down the stretch here.

On getting scored on for the first time this postseason: It's never fun when you get scored on and you're responsible for it. But it's nice to make up for it. When you get scored on, you want to get it back for your team and at least get even, but we were able to pull ahead and come out on the plus side, which is big. 

On Taylor Hall: He just drives play and he's so fun to watch. A lot of people have been saying it's like a blast from the past for him. Even just on a few of those plays, he's just flying down the wing and making plays and using his speed to his advantage. It's great to watch and fun to play with.

On Hall's physicality this postseason: You'd be surprised. He can crush some guys. Definitely keep your head up if he's around. His speed and he's just a pretty thick guy.

Sean Walker

On what 24-hour jet lag feels like: Maybe more like 24 hours with just a couple naps. But yeah, it was quite the whirlwind over the last couple days, but it all worked out really well.

On how his wife and daughter are: Mom and baby are doing amazing. I can't put into words how proud I am of her. She had to go through it for a little bit without me there. I did make it, but she was amazing. And just, it's funny, you know already how much you love your new daughter. And again, my wife is a rock star, the way she killed it, and just so proud of her. And I love them both.
On how things unfolded: She had an appointment on Thursday, and they said things are kind of getting going but weren't too worried about it. And after [Game 3], she called me at like 1 a.m. — I was still up — and she said her water broke. So I called [Head of Team Services Mike Brown] right away. Thankfully, there was a 6 a.m. flight, and we were able to get there in time. And I was there for everything. The baby gods were on my side on that one, and I got to experience it all. It was amazing — really an amazing experience. 
On waiting to get on the flight Friday morning: She FaceTimed me. I was on FaceTime with her the whole time, then she FaceTimed me again when I was just about to board the plane and things were kind of getting going. So that was really tough. But again, she killed it. And can't say it enough, how proud I am her.
On getting back into game mode: It was weird. It was kind of like one of the easiest and hardest games I've maybe ever played, if that makes sense. You just kind of live in the moment, running on no sleep. I ate my pregame meal in the hospital cafeteria. Yeah, it's just crazy, but you just show up. The guys were amazing, everybody: team services, the whole organization, from the owner down, really made it possible for me to be there and get back in time. And, yeah, I just was happy to contribute.
**On getting a couple days off now:**I didn't want to get on the boys and tell them we better win tonight, but I'm really appreciative everybody dug in. The sweeps huge for everybody, but to take this time to just be with my family is going to be really special.

On when he got back: I landed at 2, so it was early enough where it was kind of nice. I got a little bit of time to go to the hotel, freshen up, laid down for a little bit and took the bus with the boys. So it was all good.
On if he has anything from the game to bring: I got some things in mind, but she’ll get those eventually.

Jaccob Slavin

On if he's getting sick of killing 5-on-3s yet: I mean, it's never fun... actually, I do enjoy it. It's fun to be out there and obviously it's better when we don't get scored on. We gotta make sure we dial in in the later rounds. It's going to be extremely important to not have to kill those off, so we have to do a better job of being disciplined.

On making yet another conference final: You have to take it one step at a time and it's just another step in the process. We got a good group in here who have all been here before and everyone knows what to expect and knows what is expected of us. So we have to make sure we're going in with the right mindset and continue to just chip away and work hard like we do.

On what makes this group different: I mean, familiarity with the way we have to play. We have just about everyone back from last year and a couple of new additions who just make us that much better. All those guys are stepping up and playing big minutes and big roles for us. I think what's different about this group and what's helping us is just the expectations of how we have to play. We're getting success from goaltending, PK, power play, 5v5 hockey. Everything is clicking right now.

On Frederik Andersen: He's been locked in. He's been unbelievable for us. An absolute brick wall back there and when we have had breakdowns, he's been there to shut the door. So that's huge for us and we just need to continue to do that.

On the team still having another level to get to: I think so. I think we're giving up a little bit too much. A couple of breakaways, a couple of 2-on-1s that we don't need to be giving up. So I think as we progress here, we need to make sure we're playing both sides of the puck extremely well, making the right decisions through the neutral zone. I think we still have more.

On back-to-back sweeps: You take the wins, you take the rest. Obviously it's not the goal, so we have to do all eight wins again just to get to the end. It's just another step.

On his gap leading to the game-winning goal: As a D corps, we try to stay tight all around the ice and that was a prime example of what we try to do. We try to suffocate teams and not let them get in our zone and so that's a part of it. Hallsy and Blaker made a great play, I just happened to have a tight gap.

On Sean Walker: It's awesome for him. Obviously hockey is amazing, to get the win is amazing, but for him to welcome a baby into the world, there's so much more to life than hockey and so happy for him, happy for his family. He came and played amazing today. Dad strength.

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