Hurricanes' head coach calls out Carolina's best players

Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour wants more out of his team's best players.

The Hurricanes were once again defeated by the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final, and now face an extremely uphill climb, going down 3-0 in the series. The Panthers won Game 3 6-2, and took a stranglehold on the series. 

"The four rookies in the lineup can't be some of your better players," Brind'Amour told media postgame. "That can't happen. There's a couple guys in there that I don't think came to play the way they needed to in this time of year. It can't be Jordan Staal and Martinook being our best players. That can't always be that way. And they are every night. We needed more out of some guys."

The line of Taylor Hall, Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho were dominated by the Panthers in Game 3. They were outscored 2-0, and out-attempted 17-6 in the contest. The Hurricanes are dealing with a slew of injuries, but Brind'Amour isn't ready to make any excuses for everyone else's performance. 

"I think we were there, obviously," Brind'Amour said. "We were playing better, and then just to turn pucks over, it's not what we do. No one does that. Pretty surprised. You can't do that. You can't do it any time. Preseason game it's going to cost you, but against that team, and you turn it over for an odd-man rush, forget it."

The Hurricanes have lost 15 consecutive Eastern Conference Final games dating back to 2009.

Photo credit:  Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images