Stankoven of Hurricanes offers analysis on Stanley Cup Final matchup against Golden Knights

MH: Let’s start with the last series. I don’t think too many people would have predicted you guys to roll like that in five games. Was there something in that matchup that favoured your team?

LS: I think Montreal is a great team. Even just playing them during the regular season, they moved the puck very well. They’re a possession-based team. They break the puck out pretty good. And we really found that out the first game. And, obviously, they’ve got the skill and talent that they can make you pay for mistakes. So, that first game was tough and I don’t think it helped with us being off for 12 days. I think we had to shake a bit of the rust off. After that, I thought each game we got better and better and better. It helps being able to watch video and also getting your legs back. We just made some adjustments after that first game. We needed to come back better.

Logan Stankoven

MH: Taylor Hall said having 12 days off before the Montreal series was way too long. Is it nice to have a shorter break this time around?

LS: Yeah. It’s nice. We had our off time and time to regroup. Yesterday [Saturday, May 30] was an off day. Today [Sunday, May 31], we were back at the rink watching video and in the gym. And then tomorrow we’re back on the ice for practice. Tuesday, it all starts. It’s nice that, yeah, we can just kind of keep rolling here.

MH: Your series-clinching goal against Montreal, what did you see on that one?

LS: I was just trying to present Taylor Hall with a target and he does so well down low and he protects the puck really well. They play a man-on-man system in Montreal. I just tried to get away from my check and Hallsy found me. I just basically tried to use that defender as a screen and shoot it kind of around him or through him, and tried to get it up because I know when that pass comes out from behind, the goalie’s usually looking over his shoulder or down on his knees.

MH: Does that take over your No. 1 spot for best playoff moment to date or is it still the first Philly game?

LS: That’s the new one, for sure. That was probably one of the most-fun games I have ever been a part of, just with the way we kind of started that game and then the fans and how passionate they are here.

MH: The Eastern Conference Final had been a huge hump for that team to get over even before you arrived. Did [head coach Rod Brind’Amour] or anyone else address that directly before the series?

LS: We didn’t really talk about it a whole lot in the dressing room. Obviously, the media brings it up and whatnot, but I think the team has changed so much over the course of three or four years. There’s a lot of new faces and new guys. Guys have gotten older and they’ve been through these playoff runs. You learn things. Last year, having to play Florida and just the standard they’re at and how they play, we were able to learn a lot from that series and take some things away.

MH: I saw this stat. You made your debut February 24th, 2024. Forty-seven playoff games since then. That’s more than 82 per cent of NHL players in league history. Three conference finals. How valuable do you think all that experience is early in your career?

LS: It’s huge. I’ve been very, very blessed and grateful to be on three unbelievable teams so far that have made pretty good runs in the playoffs. You can learn so much from just being able to play in the big moments. It’s something that I don’t take for granted. You never know when you’re going to make it back to this situation. You just want to leave it all out there and you do it for the fans here and your teammates and the coaches and everyone obviously watching and supporting me back home in Kamloops.

MH: Taylor Hall said, stylistically, what you’re expecting from Vegas and what you got with Montreal are two very different things. Can you share anything on that? And, also, is there a matchup defensively you’re really focusing on?

LS: I think Vegas is a big team. They play heavy. Even just watching that Colorado series, like, they played physical. They do a good job at blocking shots and their defencemen are pretty big back there. They like to box you out at the front of the net. We’re going to have to really battle and bear down.

Offensively, [Jack] Eichel and [Mitch] Marner, those are two of the best players in the world. We’re going to have to definitely stay above them and not let them have a lot of time and space because they’re difference-makers when they’re out there. It’s a deep team. I think anytime at this point in the season, every team is deep now. So it’s just about winning your one-on-one battles and competing harder than the guy next to you.

MH: You’re four wins away from reaching the ultimate prize. Do you let those thoughts creep into your head? Do you try and not focus on them?

LS: It’s hard. It’s a dream. It’s what you dream of as a kid, to hoist that Cup some day and to have your name on that Cup. So, I think it’s great to have that in the back of your mind just as a motivator. But, at the same time, you’ve just got to take it one game at a time and you can’t get too far ahead of yourself. That’s the goal.”

by Marty Hastings

Stankoven of Hurricanes offers analysis on Stanley Cup Final matchup against Golden Knights

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