The Carolina Hurricanes will not go undefeated this preseason as their inexperienced squad fell 2-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning Monday night at Lenovo Center.
And I mean, it was about what I expected.
The first time playing a real game in a couple months for a lot of guys, plus with the relative inexperience of the roster, plus a lot of them not really ever having played together before.
You get the picture.
I thought most of the forwards looked good on the forecheck. Even if they weren't stringing together a bunch of high-danger chances, they still forced turnovers and made things difficult for Tampa.
The defensive zone is another matter entirely though...
But the preseason isn't necessarily about the score or winning or losing. It's about seeing growth, improvement and understanding.
So for a few guys, there was a lot to like from Monday's game.
'It's Good To Get Into Game Action Again': Rod Brind'Amour, Logan Stankoven, Cayden Primeau on First Preseason Game
The Carolina Hurricanes opened up their preseason slate with a 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning Monday night at Lenovo Center.
Standouts
Alexander Nikishin
The Russian defender led the Hurricanes in ice time, logging 23:08 in all situations, and also stuffed the stat sheet a bit with four shot attempts, three hits, two blocked shots and a secondary assist.
The biggest memory people will have from Monday night's game though was Nikishin's thunderous hit on Dylan Duke.
The 6-foot-3 blueliner is well known for his physicality from his days in the KHL and that's a good taste of what he can bring for Hurricanes fans.
"He had his moments," Brind'Amour said. "He's definitely a super talented player. Like I said, once he really understands what's going on... like he's just getting by on talent right now. Free wheeling it a little bit, which is great, but the little details that will come in, once that communication thing starts happening and it's a little more natural, I think he's just going to keep getting better and better."
Logan Stankoven
Stankoven entered camp with a new opportunity, the chance to once again play center.
It's the natural position for the 5-foot-8 forward, but he hadn't yet had the chance to play it in his limited NHL experience.
That all changed this season with the Canes looking for ways to upgrade at 2C.
"It was something that was brought up at the year-end exit meetings, so [Brind'Amour] just said, 'Be prepared to maybe try that out,' and I was like, 'Yeah, sure,'" Stankoven said. "I played it my whole life growing up, so I was happy to go back to that position."
Stankoven looked good down the middle and playing alongside Jackson Blake, who looked like he hadn't missed a beat, and Taylor Hall as Carolina's defacto top line.
In 19:23 of ice time, Stankoven had four shots on goal (seven attempts), went 9-for-16 on draws (56%) and had the team's lone goal, a net-front power play deflection.
"That line was pretty good, they just didn't score at 5v5," Brind'Amour said. "Got a point on the power play, but snapped it around pretty good and I thought he looked pretty good up the middle."
"There were some ebbs and flows for sure," Stankoven said of his own game. "I think draws are something I need to keep working on, but I think positionally I felt pretty comfortable out there. First game back is always a little sloppy, so it's going to take a few games, but I was happy with how it went."
Other Notables
- I thought Jackson Blake looked really comfortable out there. He had team-high six shots on goal, including a pair of really close in-tight redirections that could have easily been goals. Skated well, had some great passes, all good signs.
- I really liked most everyone on defense tonight too. Joel Nystrom had some good hustle plays and used his stick really well. Had one play too where he denied a sure goal for Tampa by getting on his horse. Domenick Fensore can really skate. Just so smooth with the puck on his stick going through the neutral/offensive zones. Charles Alexis Legault, Gavin Bayreuther and Oliver Kylington also all looked like dependable pros.
- Givani Smith is doing a lot of things right. Gets up in plays and on the forecheck, defends teammates, just was in the box way too much and struggled to keep the puck on his stick.
- I thought Cayden Primeau also had a good game. He stopped 18-of-20 shots (0.900 Sv%) and the ones he was beat on were an in-alone, low slot snipe and a redirection in front. I thought he battled and got better as the game went on
"I felt better as the game went on," Primeau said. "Again, first time in a game situation in a while. You can scrimmage and practice as much as you want, but nothing replicates a game. It was good to get game action, but I felt better as the game went on. Definitely think puck touches could use some cleaning up, but like I said, it's just the first one."
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