Amidst a blowout loss, Nicolas Deslauriers injected energy in his Hurricanes debut, dropping the gloves and laying hits to ignite his new team.
It was a night to forget for the Carolina Hurricanes as a whole Tuesday night in Columbus, as the team dropped the ball in a 5-1 blowout loss, however, it was notable at least for one player, as it was Nicolas Deslauriers debut with his new team.
"Obviously it didn't go the way we wanted," Deslauriers said. "For me, I was just trying to get my feet wet and try to show what I can bring to this team."
The team's lone trade deadline acquisition donned the Hurricanes sweater for the first, logging 12:31 in the loss.
Deslauriers played on the team's fourth line with Mark Jankowski and William Carrier, and he even got time on the penalty kill as well. For the most part, he held his own overall and even wasn't on the ice for any goals against.
He also brought exactly what the team had hoped for when they acquired him, laying six hits and even dropping the gloves with Mathieu Olivier in an attempt to spark his team in the second period.
"He did his job," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour.
The spark worked for a little bit as the Hurricanes started to get some juice following the big tilt, with Andrei Svechnikov even putting one up on the board.
"That's what I live for," Deslauriers said. "I wish that I could score goals, but these are the moments for me where I feel I did something good. When you're in the box, and I know sometimes I'm in there for long, but when we score and I'm in there after a job I did, I'm as happy as if I scored a goal"
There's no guarantee that Deslauriers will continue to get steady playing time as the season continues, but he certainly looked like a player that can hold his own and even contribute some much needed intangibles for the Canes.
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