HC Rod Brind'Amour doesn't mince words about $62,000,000 Hurricanes forward's poor showing in Game 2 loss

Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour didn't mince words when assessing the performance of his forward Andrei Svechnikov after the Hurricanes' 5-0 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 2 on Thursday.

Svechnikov, who has an 8-year, $62,000,000 contract, was responsible for two early Florida goals. In the first instance, Svechnikov turned the puck over in Carolina's defensive zone, which led to Gustav Forsling's goal.

In the second instance, Svechnikov was checked hard into the boards by Sam Bennett, resulting in Florida's goal.

"He had a tough night. He's trying, but you’ve got to do it within the way, you need to be on the same page, and he was on his own page. It didn't work," Brind'Amour said of Svechnikov's performance (1:27 onwards).

Andersen was pulled after allowing four goals on just 16 shots. Pyotr Kochetkov had four saves in the relief.

On the team's effort, Brind'Amour said (0:37 onwards):

“I don’t know what I was watching in the first period, that didn’t go well. The margin here is tight, you’re not going to beat this team when we’re not on the same page. I think the intentions were good, everyone was trying ... but it’s not how we do it and it just backfired.”

Sam Bennett (2G), Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Gustav Forsling netted, while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 17 shots for Florida.

The series now shifts to Florida for Game 3 on Saturday, where the Hurricanes will look to bounce back.

Hurricanes 5-0 shutout loss to Panthers

Florida scored just over a minute into the game. Matthew Tkachuk intercepted a pass and quickly set up Gustav Forsling to open the scoring with a snap shot.

Tkachuk then tapped in a slick pass from Carter Verhaeghe for 2-0 lead. Sam Bennett followed that up with a power-play deflection at the 15:50 mark to make it 3-0 heading into the intermission.

Bennett buried a rebound after Andersen stopped Verhaeghe’s wraparound attempt late in the second. Aleksander Barkov put the finishing touch on the win in the third, redirecting Aaron Ekblad’s point shot on the power play to make it 5-0.

Game 3 shifts to Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday as the Panthers look to maintain their momentum. Carolina now has 14 consecutive losses spanning their last three appearances against Florida.