After a long summer, hockey season is finally upon us.
The Carolina Hurricanes' jerseys, which have sat dormant for too long, once again were on display as the team's prospects hit the ice in Florida for the Southeast Rookie Showcase.
In their opening match against the Florida Panthers, the Hurricanes easily handled the Panthers, beating them by a final score of 4-1.
The even better news is that Carolina's prospects are already playing in the Hurricanes style. The forechecking was intense, the penalty killing was sharp and the sticks were active all night.
The Canes looked good right out of the gate in spite of the youth and diversity of the roster. They worked well off of one another and for the most part, didn't look too out of sync.
Domenick Fensore got the scoring going early when, with the Canes on a 5-on-3, he snuck in from the blueline and jammed home a loose puck in the goal mouth.
A hard-nosed forechecking shift saw that lead double as Ryan Suzuki and Jack Beck went to work down low, winning the puck and feeding Noel Gunler alone in front.
In fact, that play was so good, the Hurricanes did it again, but this time it was Justin Robidas putting home a feed after Beau Jelsma and Gabe Klassen forced a turnover along the boards.
Florida would manage to get on the board as Kai Schwindt surprised netminder Jakub Vondras with a quick wrister off of a faceoff win, but it wasn't long before Carolina was back ahead by three.
The Canes would strike again on the power play thanks to a beautiful tic-tac-toe play from Suzuki to Vasily Ponomarev who one-touched it cross-crease to Blake Murray at the backdoor. The initial shot was stopped by Florida's netminder, but Murray stuck with it and jammed the puck home.
The Hurricanes would hold on from there, defeating the Panthers 4-1
Standouts
1. Goaltending
Both Yaniv Perets and Vondras held down the fort for Carolina. Perets got the start and turned aside all 12 shots he faced before he turned the reins over to Vondras at the halfway point. The young Czech was beaten once early, but he dialed it in after that and made some big stops down the stretch. Vondras saved 9 of the 10 shots he faced and then stoned all five Panthers skaters in the after-game shootout.
2. Special Teams
The penalty kill was perfect and the power play struck gold twice. What more can you ask for?
Here's how the units broke down:
PP1 - Fensore, Suzuki, Robidas, Ponomarev, Murray
PP2 - Aleksi Heimosalmi, Anttoni Honka, Felix Unger Sorum, Gunler, Jelsma
PK1 - Jelsma, Suzuki, Heimosalmi, Griffin Mendel
PK2 - Ponomarev, Anthony Romani, Bryce Montgomery, Ronan Seeley
3. Individual Players
- Vasily Ponomarev was involved in all three zones and on both sides of special teams. He had a beautiful one-touch pass, cross-crease to Murray for the second power play goal and he was a noticeable presence throughout the game.
- Domenick Fensore looked comfortable manning the top power play unit. He had the offensive smarts to jump to the crease on the 5-on-3 and looked comfortable breaking up plays.
- Camp invitee Jack Beck had a good showing alongside Suzuki and Gunler. He played hard and was involved in a few smart plays.
- Aleksi Heimosalmi looked composed carrying the puck in the offensive zone as well. He's a really smooth skater.
- Justin Robidas was also a forechecking force. He's strong on the puck too.
