We also hear from Durham leaders after the headliner for the Bimbe Festival said she was never contacted for it. Plus, The latest on two shootings involving police officers and how AAA is partnering with local law enforcement to prevent thieves from taking parts from your car. Watch WRAL-TV at 7:30 p.m., and search for these and other stories on WRAL.com.

On WRAL at 7:30: Storms possible tonight. Who could see the heaviest rain during a WRAL Weather Alert Day, plus when the rain returns next week

The North Carolina Senate voted along party lines Wednesday to ban anyone from wearing masks in public for health reasons, following an emotional debate about the wisdom of the proposal.


NC Senate votes to ban people from wearing masks in public for health reasons

Protestors gather in Graham 

A year later, the full impact of the North Carolina abortion law is becoming clearer for both supporters and opponents.

A year later, impact from NC's 12-week abortion ban coming into focus

Ultrasound

All assets associated with the tag: Evgeny Kuznetsov

Evgeny Kuznetsov Coverage

Carolina Hurricanes forward Evgeny Kuznetsov speaks about the team's ability to come together and win by any means necessary in Game 5 vs. the Rangers. 

Describe what happened, you guys be, yeah, that, that, that was, that was phenomenal. And uh you know, we were trying hard two periods of the puck doesn't go in and he was playing well and I'm just so grateful to be part of that. It's kind of one of those when you, you know, going into the third period, you realize that could be the last period this year and you don't, you don't want to have that feeling. So I'm so grateful that we, we were able to, to, to, you know, come back and win the game. He called it before the game that he's going to score today. He said he is going to do bird. But yeah, no, he, he's too nice. You said it's gonna be hell going back to Raleigh for them. Do you, um, do you think the pressure totally shifts on to them now? You guys are? I don't know what's, you know, it's not a need to decide who's pressure or not. I think, uh that's a 22 beautiful teams that, uh, you know, competing against each other and, and, you know, it's a dog fight now and you know what we're trying to do last four days. We just live in it day by day and do what's best available there opportunities and we're just using it. And like I said, I'm so grateful to have these moments in trying to do this when you look at the sheet with people that have been to, I don't know, you know, I just, like I say, I felt uh a little bit uncomfortable before third period uh to, to kind of cut myself and the, and the thoughts that, you know, that could be the last period. But, um, like I said, I'm so grateful that we were able to come back and, and it's good for the hockey, good for everybody to see those two beautiful teams compete with each other when you have a guy like who makes those big, what do you kind of keep in mind when you're trying to, I mean, I feel like at this stage there is no bad goals at all and, and I feel like in, in the whole league, there is no bad goals but uh I is a beautiful person and a beautiful goalie that, you know, I feel like crowd fee of him and he's one of the, the main focus for us that we got to go through. You've only been here a couple of months with this group, but what impressed you most about them? I sure he could have been deflating, but the team never seems to relax. I felt like we never give up. You know, it was one of those when you can go down and you can look eye to eye to your teammates. And like I said, it was a good third period and I learned a lot about this group.

Kuznetsov: "I learned a lot about this group"

Carolina Hurricanes Evgeny Kuznetsov

Evgeny Kuznetsov talks about his mindset as the Carolina Hurricanes get ready to play the Rangers again on Monday night. 

Again, he obviously tough to have to sit out a game, a playoff game. But, um, obviously a, a big, uh, response last night and it seemed like you were pretty fired up to, to get that goal and maybe even stick it to a couple of Rangers fans in the front row. There was a game in between the two. You'll probably forget that. Yeah. But, uh, you know, it is what it is, but just, uh, you know, trying to, trying to do what's best for the team. We're trying to go there and, you know, it's a, it's a proper conversation for another day and, um, but right now we just, uh, have to forget all of those past days and just, you know, focus in the future, but you did notice the Rangers fans. Yeah. Yeah, it wasn't hard. There was a lot, a lot of them they were loud for, for you guys as a team to see the power play score. And obviously it's that unit. But does everyone get confidence from just finally seeing that the emergency the puck go in? I mean, uh, it's probably the first time in my career. I see that, uh we can get into the zone so easy and uh we had so much time in the zone and we can't just score the goals and usually it's opposite. Right. You, you fail the entry or stuff like that, but uh here it's opposite. So when, when, when, when you have a possession park like that in the zone, it's the good thing, what will happen. And I felt like uh we score when we need it and, and that was a, that was a nice, at least for, for everybody. You're, you're new here. So you, you don't know the team maybe as much as some of the other guys do. But what did you think about the resilience? They've shown, you know, being down three? Oh, is not, not easy. Yeah, I mean, that's, uh, it's a tough situation to be in. Uh, but I feel like in the playoffs, you, you gotta focus uh game game by game or day by day and, and you just gotta leave the day, you know what's best over there and, and you just work hard as you can, smart as you can every day and then you wake up, you do it again and it doesn't really matter what's the score in the series and stuff like that. Yeah, but we, we're kind against the wall right now and, and you know, all I wanna say it just gonna be dog fight tomorrow. There is a one ball of food and two dogs is gonna compete each other and they know they, they don't wanna come back here, they know it's gonna be hell here. Um, and they want to finish out there and, and what we're trying to do, we're just trying to put the pressure on them a little bit and, and play our game and, uh, but there's not a lot of tactics or, you know, like a skill place, whatever. It's, it's just about compete in and in the dog fight. You know, that's, that's all I can say. As someone who's, who speaks Pyotr Kakos language, what do you see from him? His personality and of the person he is that maybe we don't see because of the language barriers. I mean, we see a little of it. I don't know, he's, uh, you know, he's a, he's a pretty interested guy and I wish you can get to know him more and, and, you know, I think he has a absolutely phenomenal future in front of him and, and he's a, he's a very, very hard working guy and as a goalie, he, he, he wants to give up zero goals every night. And, you know, that's one of those that he has to accept. Sometimes he, he, he's gonna let few, few goals in but still focus and, and, and, and, you know, I, I love him so much and he's a, he's a nice, nice guy. Were you at all surprised that there were those two big scrums right in his crease and he turned his back and skated away. Yeah. Yeah, especially. I know how, how, how much he doesn't like historically love. I wasn't joking by the way and I know he, he likes to get in there. So that's a 22 Russian goalies that play, you know, off emotions and, and, uh, that's one of the, you know, the grounds that everybody would love to see for sure. And, and, you know, maybe not, not in the playoff but, uh, you know, they, they both very emotional and, and the, the, both the way, the way they react both with both was surprised me. Ha, have you had a room where you've seen two girls who are so different personality wise like Freddie is? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I've seen before. Yeah, I've seen it before and, uh, uh, it just, you know, it just, uh, for me it was just as long as goalie coach find a way how to communicate with both of them and, and find a way how to talk to both of those, uh, goalies. And I feel like our goalie coach is doing a good job with that and, and he's very, very detailed with both of them, Jenny since you've been here. What's impressed you the most about Sebastian? Uh huh. I mean, I play, I know him, uh, before and, uh, you know, it's not something that surprised me, I, I pretty much I know everything he's doing and, and he's a, he's a, you know, franchise player to, to this franchise. And I felt like the way he react that when trot look at him that way and, and, you know, he, he showed his passion and, and, you know, it's a, it's a tough position to be, but the way he respond last night it was huge for me and, and that's, that shows everything about him. He, he can take, let's say punches, right. But then he, he, he, he'll wait and he pay back. That's, that's what's most important to me. Was that a big thing for the team? What did absolutely not. I just, we talk about, uh, Sebastian Ajo, right? And, and for me as a player, I do learn from that and, and, you know, it's a, it's a tough position to be when you give up goal like that big moments, right? But, uh, you know, next, next, next night and he scored it, it was a, it was a pretty good, pretty good moment for me to, to see, could you feel him, especially in that first period last night? Trying to sort of lead by example. Yeah. Oh, yeah, he's, he's a good example every night. Yeah, he's, he's been, you know, big piece of this team and, and I feel like, uh, he's one of those players that, uh, you know, make a difference in the game. Thanks. Thank you. Ok, is that it?

Kuznetsov: It's going to be a dog fight. One bowl of food and two dogs competing for it

Kuznetsov

Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and an assists in a 301 win vs. the Islanders. Kuznetsov said its good to get the win but they know they have to be better moving forward. 

You've got a pretty good playoff history to yourself. Is it nice to get this one started off this way? Just wanna make sure, you know, I, I said that the 1st 40 minutes was unacceptable the way we play and, uh, we gotta make sure we, we fix that part for the next game and, and, you know, the home, home, I, it's a, it's a big privilege and we gotta make sure we take advantage of that. Yeah, a lot, a lot of things were wrong. You know, they, they, I feel like, uh, they out compete in some areas. But, uh, you know, that's, that's why we have a pretty good tm, uh, we regroup after 40 minutes, you know, we, we know what we, we have to fix and we did that. So I'm, I'm very happy that we get the w that's, that's most important these days. And, uh, sometimes iii I, if that's what you, what you gotta give up and I give up the shiny good game for the W and that's one of those moments and that was a goal, the one that they scored to win it, you won the puck he goes to the front where that's actually the first goal was, uh, was probably his, he screened pretty good. Uh, Hardley didn't see the puck and that's why I shot that puck. How big was Freddie Anderson for you guys? He's amazing. Yeah, that's why he got paid. Do you get a feeling with the Anderson? He gives up the one goal, you kind of get a feeling when he does that and he says, ok, that's it for the night. It almost feels like that. I think that safe he made early in the third was big. And like I said, it's, it's unacceptable for us. And, uh, uh, we, we, we gotta make sure we clean those because our, our goal is both goal is, is playing very good hockey and we gotta make sure we, we help them, we can make their, their job heavy. Did anything need to be said in here? No, no, no, we have a young but, you know, we trained him and, and a lot of guys played big games and sometimes you don't have to say anything. We know and, and you know, it's, we're not kids, nobody have to take baby sitter. So that's why, you know, we, after that Fred safe, we, we kind of start playing better and, and we get the w

Kuznetsov: Sometimes you give up a shiny good game for a win

The Wolfpack's incredible run in the ACC tournament got them into the Big Dance. Can they keep the dream alive much longer? Plus, the Hurricanes and Courage enjoy a red-hot week and more!

NC State's miracle run, comeback Canes and busy Panthers in the sports moments of the week

Kevin Keatts lifts ACC Tournament trophy

Evgeny Kuznetsov talks about scoring his first goal as a Cane after a 4-0 win over the Florida Panthers.  

The points don't matter, they'll come, but the wins are important, but it seemed like it felt pretty good, particularly on the goal for you to get one to go. I understand why I'm here and why this team bring me. So not just to be the funny guy and smile around, they, they need us to perform and they need us to eventually get the points and go so we can help the team and, and, you know, I felt like, uh today was the day that we, we had to step up and it was a dry three games for me. So it was, it was very important to not only get the goal and assist to, to get the games in nature go and then I thought, uh you know, the, the, the first period there was not a lot there and then 2nd and 3rd, we really, we really missed that different style of game and, and I'm, I'm, I had the fun tonight and I hope that uh everybody in the building had the fun. Can you explain the way your lines come together so quickly? I have no idea. To be honest with you. Seriously, I'm, I'm not lying. I have no idea. We, we do not talk about hockey and, uh, that sometimes it's good, you know, we can, we can learn off each other and, and just play. We, we know the system system and, and we go inside of the system. We're good enough to understand when we have to put the park deep when we can make the place. And we, we, we played a few thousands of games, a few hundreds of games and, and we know when is the time to make plays? When is the time to, to put the park deep in work? When was the last time you did a long time ago? Long time? Yeah. Uh, I, I didn't want to do it but, uh, I, I felt like the defense would like it probably on your goal. Were you waiting out the, well, were you waiting out your defender or were you looking for an opening on be? I wanted to pass the n on the back door and the first Jensen then n and I heard that the people from the beach screaming, shoot, shoot, shoot and, and, uh, you know, it was a, it was a good, good pass by Shirley and then, uh, you know, I just decided the shot for some reason. Were you surprised to have that much time? You don't, you don't get that much time and I knew it was at that type of play when you know, II, I was in the middle and I knew I'm the defenseman gonna kind of block the shot and stuff like that. I, I knew that nobody coming from behind. So, what's it been like coming in to against high caliber playoff teams like the Rangers and Florida Panthers as well in your early games here? Yeah, I mean, those two teams, it's a tough teams and, uh, and confidences. Right. And, well, I feel like now there is no bad teams in the league anymore and even if you look at the teams that lost in the standings, they, they still work hard. They compete a lot of skill. So these days you, you have to treat every game like a game seven and that's, that's the mentality. I feel like I'm going, is there a relief?

Kuznetsov: They didn't bring me here to be the funny guy 

Evgeny Kuznetsov

Newly acquired Hurricane Evgeny Kuznetsov was candid about his past mistakes, the opportunity for a fresh start and what he can bring to the lineup

I mean, first off, welcome to Carolina. How does it feel to be now part of this? I mean, I was a quick turn around. I was, uh, hit the morning skate this morning in Charlotte. I called, you know, and, uh, you know, I haven't had the chance to talk to my ex team mates and, you know, it was a quick light year practice and not much I can understand right now. It's all emotions and stuff like that. But I just, you know, I wanna say thanks for the whole caps organization and the fans. It was, it was 11 years and both of my kids born there and, and that city is a massive chunk in my heart. And unfortunately I have to live that way on that note. But, you know, it's a life and no regrets in my life and, and I'm gonna remember for the rest of my life the time over there and it was, it was amazing, amazing memories, bad, good, you know, all kind of memories and, you know, I'm happy to be here and a new chapter in my life. That's something I was looking for and, and terrific. Match for me. And, uh, guy's been welcome so far. Uh, just been bad to me, but I'll make him straight. So, stuff like that. Yeah, it's, it's big. I know him since 16 years old. And we played together. We were roommates together. We, we spend a lot of good and bad days together. So our family died, our parents died. So he was a, he was a, is a meant to be here, You know, it's, it's perfect match for me. That's what I'm looking for. Yeah. Yeah, of course. Yeah. Yeah, they, they know me more than I know them probably from the, you know, they're using the internet these days. So, you know, iii, I hope that, uh, I'll change the thing that they think about me and, and, you know, I can, I can help the team, you know, the rivalry with the Penguins over the years to come here, come here too. Is that a little, a little strange? No, no, no. He was actually a nice guy. I played with him and, uh, at the All Star game and he's a nice guy and he never said anything bad to me during the games. You know, he probably afraid of me but, you know, he doesn't know what to expect from the Russian guy. So I guess that I'm, uh, I was, I was very, very pumped to know that, you know, I'm coming here and especially all the edition they got and it's just a, just a fun to be around and privilege for me. It's been 11 years and, and you're not a kid anymore, but it's still very much with a lot of good years. Like, where is your game? In your estimation? What do you bring here that you think you can help with right away? Well, we'll see, I guess next game there is a high expectation, high standards and, uh, I haven't been playing the way I have to play lately and, you know, I, I accept that I'm working on that and that, that's not something that I'm happy about. And I know the, you know how this team play and how I need to play and I'm pretty sure they're gonna show me a few hours of video today and I'm gonna get, uh, understand the system and, well, all of us, you know, the end of the day, just, uh, your skill in the house, you have to make decisions and you have to understand what's the moment to, to make plays. What's the moment to play? A simple ga me and I feel like, you know, I can play both, both ga mes, you had Rod as, you know, the All Star coach as well. Yeah, that's when he probably realized that he needs those two guys in his team, you know, that All Star game. Yeah, leave it that way. So