In a game that will go down as a “remember that one time” game despite the fact that no one was there to witness it, a Hurricanes squad that was missing five regulars to the COVID list and playing after a nine-day layoff most of which was without practices, beat the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning 1-0 in overtime.
Maybe most surprisingly, the story is not really one of an overmatched Canes team pulling out a surprise win despite being outplayed. By no means were the Hurricanes dominant, but they traded punches with a good hockey team in a game that was better than the scoreless regulation. Maybe even more surprising is that the despite having a bit of a makeshift lineup and not a lot of ice time recently, there really was not much for signs of rustiness. The Hurricanes were the better team by a decent margin in the first period before ceding momentum a bit in the second period.
The overtime game-winner was a beauty. First, Sebastian Aho and Dougie Hamilton managed to wear out the Lightning players on the ice with a heady bit of overtime puck possession. Then Jordan Staal hopped over the boards and made a pretty pass to Martin Necas who ended the game with an equally skilled finish. The game also had the good vibes of a player (Steven Lorentz) making his NHL debut and a few other players who figured to be at the AHL level getting NHL ice time. Television is obviously not the same as being there in person, but all in all Thursday was a tremendous 2020-21 home opener even if it was delayed by more than three months and even postponed from originally scheduled.
Player and other notes
1) Petr Mrazek
Not mentioned above is Petr Mrazek whose zero goals against obviously played a significant role in collecting a win. As I said above, the 0-0 score through three periods overstated the volume of offense. Each team had a decent number of medium or better chances, but each team also had a goalie who was sharp and on his game.
2) The reinforcements
The four players making 2020-21 NHL debuts because of the Canes players in COVID protocol performed well and did not look out of place. Most notable was probably Steven Lorentz logging 14:41 of ice time on a line with Jordan Staal whose path he followed in junior hockey. Jake Bean also had a solid game. He was not noticeable defensively (in a good way) most of the night, made a couple good defensive plays with his stick and did have one shift where he played rover in the offensive zone and came reasonably close to making something happen. Sheldon Rempal and Max McCormick did not garner as much ice time on the fourth line, but they were also up to the task. Credit also to Rod Brind’Amour for immediately making the group part of the regular rotation and not trying to get by for a game using only 15-16 players.
3) Sebastian Aho
Despite not cracking the score sheet, I thought Sebastian Aho had an especially strong game. He has really matured as a player in the sense that he is not only good when he is filling up the score sheet.
4) Gardiner/Pesce
I have in the past been hard on Jake Gardiner when I thought his play deserved it. With Jaccob Slavin out of the lineup, Gardiner moved up in the top 4 playing alongside Brett Pesce and had a strong game. Gardiner’s 21:41 of ice time was second only to Pesce’s 25:11.
Next up for the Hurricanes is a two game home set against the Dallas Stars who are 3-0 after a COVID-delayed start. Get your tickets for Saturday…never mind…See you on Twitter!
Go Canes!
Gardiner has looked like a different guy so far. That’s huge for this team because he was such a negative for most of last season. He’s playing with confidence and a quicker step that we just have not seen. Let’s hope it continues.
I have to agree about Gardiner. He looks confident and his back must be better. I haven’t seen the hitch when he pivots so far this season. If someone is looking for a defenseman maybe you sell high?
He does seems quicker this year. I’m rooting for him; as we saw last night, having the ability to use him to eat minutes like he did last night is going to be really important this season.
That was indeed a fun, feel-good game. Heading into the third period, I thought it would take 3 goals to win this one. It was fast and furious, not a boring defensive battle.
Jake Gardiner has found his game, which is really good to see. I loved the Lorentz interview in the first break, the kid has a big personality and plays the game the right way. It’s easy to project him as a fan favorite.
Hats off to Raz for the shutout, the pucks were hitting him last night.
Really good hockey game. Canes went toe to toe with possibly the best team in the league and came out on top. Mrazek was outstanding. I think Tripp said it best in that Mrazek has been calmer this season. In the past he had the tendency to overplay situations. Not as much this year. He looks very good.
The young guys were very good. Jake Bean does look like a different player. More patient with the puck. Not afraid to take the hit when he has to. He still showed that offensive flair. Lorentz looks like the real deal. It’s only one game, but a game that makes you give Warren Foegele some side eye. Bigger, faster, and doesn’t seem as prone to the big errors Foegele can make. Only one game though, but early returns are good.
Aho was Aho, but he may have been the only guy who looked rusty. Had several grade A opportunities, but for various reasons couldn’t finish. Those will go in down the road.
Excited to see the Canes play Dallas. They look very good even without Seguin.
I think you have said in the past, Matt, that the Canes match up well with the Bolts and, indeed, last night a depleted Canes matched up very well. The Canes should have been playing with rust but did not – actually one of the best games I can recall seeing the Canes play in a long time. It was Mrazek who made it happen – he played out of his mind all games against any number of Grade-A chances – the same could be said for VV. Lorentz shwed he belongs at this level – and he has a great story; he was a surprising success in CLT. We will see who’s back up for Saturday.
I was watching Bean carefully since I really haven’t seen him since camp at the beginning of last season.
He had a few moments early but steadied himself and really played well in the 3rd period. RBA must have noticed because he saw ice-time with less than 2-minutes to go.
Great game to watch. Vasilevsky was just as good as Mrazek, maybe better.
We’re going to be a “tough out” if we can figure out how to play with this level of intensity and energy all season, something we didn’t figure out last year (but did the year before).