Ruff defends Schmid after early exit: 'I could've taken multiple players out'
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New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters after Wednesday’s Game 1 loss that he could have taken multiple players out, not just goaltender Akira Schmid.
The red-hot Schmid was pulled early in the second period as the Devils fell behind 3-0, eventually falling 5-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes to open their second-round series. Schmid allowed three goals on 11 shots prior to giving way to Vitek Vanecek.
“It had nothing to do with our goalie. I could’ve taken multiple players out,” Ruff said after the game.
Ruff added that he hadn’t yet spoken to Schmid, but doubled down on Wednesday’s loss not being the fault of the rookie.
“I gave him a fist bump to the blocker just to let him know that it had nothing to do with him.”
Would Ruff go back to him in Game 2 Friday night?
“That’s a question for tomorrow,” Ruff said with a laugh.
The 22-year-old took over the net for the Devils in Game 3 of their first-round series with the New York Rangers, posting a .951 save percentage over the final five games of the series.
New Jersey punched their ticket to the second round for the first time since 2012 with a Game 7 victory Monday night. But Wednesday was a different story.
"In my eyes, coming off a huge emotional win, quick turnaround, you look at the energy [Carolina] came out with," Ruff said. "They backed us into a corner right away. We didn't execute. You've got to give them a lot of credit.
"I can only imagine the emotion and the amount of people telling you what an unbelievable game the previous one was. We all felt the same way. You start thinking this is pretty good, and then you get an eye-opener tonight. You're right back in the playoffs again."
On the flip side, Canes head coach Rod Brind'Amour was impressed with his team's energy early on after being off since wrapping up their first-round series with the New York Islanders last Friday.
"That was obviously the way you want to do it," he said. "I was a little bit concerned that maybe [after] the layoff, I didn't know how we were going to respond. But you could see we had a little bit more legs. Credit to the guys, we came ready to go."