The Carolina Hurricanes kept the preseason vibes buzzing as they cashed in a four-goal third period to defeat the Florida Panthers 4-1 Wednesday night.
We'll get to the game later, but for now, let's talk about the real storyline of the night: the preseason debut of Rod Brind'Amour's son, Skyler Brind'Amour.
The whole of warmups, Brind'Amour stood on the home-side bench, but his focus was across the ice, solely on his son.
He took in the entire moment, never wavering his eyes from his son, and as the rest of the players started to exit the ice, Rod, Skyler and his youngest son, Brooks, all gathered for a photo.
"It was just a great moment for him, all of us really," Brind'Amour said. "I mean he’s skated on this ice more than anybody since he was a little kid. Every chance he got, he’d be out there. It’s special. Now we’ve got something to talk about forever, so that’s cool.”
And not only did Skyler get to make his debut in the rink he grew up in and in front of his father, but Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, who also coached Rod, sent him out for the opening draw.
“He’s very appreciative," Brind'Amour said on his son. "He knows the opportunity that was given to him in Florida by 'Mo.' That was a class move. Just something we’ll all cherish, but Skyler for sure.”
But once the puck dropped, it was back to reality for Brind'Amour.
Through 40 minutes, the Canes were down 1-0 and struggling to break through Spencer Knight, but early in the third period, the dam burst.
In the opening minute of the third period, Carolina converted on the power play with Stefan Noesen finishing off an easy tap in thanks to a pretty tic-tac-toe sequence from Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Felix Unger Sorum.
Two minutes later, Ryan Suzuki spun around the back of the net and rifled a shot past Knight's shoulder, short-side high.
And then seconds after that, Michael Bunting broke up a 3-on-1 and sprung a 4-on-1 the other way, dishing the puck off to Brady Skjei for the finish.
In just a five-minute span, it became a completely different game.
“We’re playing fast and you can tell right away from the start that we’re right in the other team’s face and not giving them much," Bunting said. "It’s a fun system to play and it creates a lot of offense. I felt like once we started grooving with that, we started getting chances and it was only a matter of time before it opened up in the third."
After the game, Brind'Amour once again was heaping the praise on the younger prospects.
“The young guys are doing well," Brind'Amour said. "You don’t want to get too excited, but that was a great play that Felix made and he’s done it a couple of times. There were a few of those passes he made. He’s got the poise and knows where the puck’s going to go. Some stuff that he can tell guys that’s where it needs to go and he seems to have a real good feel for it and he’s not afraid. Even [Domenick Fensore] coming in, he’s a little guy, but man, he’s noticeable. And [Yaniv Perets] came in and was solid. All these young guys are doing a great job.
“You’ve gotta have it. We’ve seen it. [Seth Jarvis] coming up. You don’t need a bunch of them, but you need to have that steady diet of some impact players. And I think there’s a chance that’s what we got there.”
He gave a bit of a different response when asked about his son.
“He did alright,” Brind’Amour said with a smile. “He didn’t look out of place. The first period, he actually made a couple of little plays than one in the third, almost got a nice little play. He was around it. There were a few moments I’m sure he… Burnsey got him a few times going backdoor on him. It’s a big, big jump. He was fine.”
A very fatherly response.
