It was practice and then kind of wait around for those next series to play out." said K'Andre Miller, Carolina Hurricanes defenseman.
Miller noted that the extended time off allowed the Hurricanes to analyze Montreal's tendencies by watching their second-round games as spectators.
"Getting the opportunity to watch another team when you're not in the line of fire, I think it gives you a different perspective on how you can kind of break their team down," said Miller.
"I think Buffalo did a really good job of exposing (Montreal) with their speed and hemming them in their zone.
The Hurricanes defensemen viewed the couch-side analysis as a valuable scouting tool heading into Game 1.
"I think those extra days where you can sit back on your couch and almost (have) a personal video session, I think that's very beneficial for our team."
said Miller.
Carolina center Sebastian Aho addressed his line's recent lack of offensive production, noting he has not scored since the opening round against Ottawa.
"Away from the puck we've been pretty solid," said Sebastian Aho, Carolina Hurricanes center. "We've got to keep doing that.
Offensively, I think we've got better than this, for sure. Yeah, it's definitely not about us, our line.
It's our team.
Aho expressed confidence that the top line utilized the break to reset before the conference final begins.
"We're trying to win hockey games here and just try to help the team win but yeah, we definitely have talked about it and use this little bit of a break to reset and starting (in Game 1), hopefully play better hockey."
