‘A good start.’ 5 observations from the Hurricanes’ win over the Red Wings.
1. Rod Brind’Amour changes the lines
From the opening day of the Carolina Hurricanes’ training camp, it was something of a puzzler: Nino Niederreiter on the top line with Sebastian Aho and Teravainen, and not Andrei Svechnikov?
But Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour wanted to balance his lines. And Niederreiter, who struggled much of last season to contribute offensively, was up for the challenge, pushing himself hard in camp and then scoring the first goal Thursday in the 3-0 season-opening win over the Detroit Red Wings.
“It’s always good to have a good start,” Niederreiter said on the postgame media call. “I wasn’t very happy or very pleased with the last season. I knew I expected a lot more from me and I know I got better, and it’s nice being back with them. At the end of the day it’s a great opportunity for me, so I’ve got to work hard to stay there.”
Time will tell how long No. 21 stays with Aho and Teravainen. But for starters, it worked well.
“It’s pretty obvious when you stick him with those guys what’s expected,” Brind’Amour said on the media call. “That’s our top line and we need it to be dynamic.”
2. Throwing down
Dougie Hamilton, fighting? Yes, Dougie Hamilton fighting.
There have been times when some question why Hamilton, an imposing guy at 6-6 and 229 pounds, doesn’t throw his weight around more and show a tougher edge. But the D-man didn’t hesitate Thursday when the Wings’ Sam Gagner boarded Jordan Staal, immediately going after Gagner.
According to hockeyfights.com, it was Hamilton’s first fight since battling Max Domi, then with Arizona, on Oct. 5, 2016 while playing for the Calgary Flames. He came away the winner against Gagner.
“I think that was a good fight,” Canes goalie Petr Mrazek said. “I’m happy for him that he did well.”
To which Brind’Amour added, “I don’t like seeing that, to be quite honest, but I liked that he stood up for his teammate.”
3. Deceiving stats
Interesting that the Canes had a 43-14 edge in shots and 73 total shot attempts to the Wings’ 34, but only a 9-8 advantage in high-danger scoring chances, according to Naturalstattrick.com.
The Wings hit a couple of posts and made the Canes defensemen scramble and put in some heavy defensive zone work during the game. Haydn Fleury had one shift that lasted 2:50 in the second period.
“We had a lot of instances where we didn’t really get pucks out like we normally do and it ended up forcing us to have two-minute shifts in our own end,” Brind’Amour said. “That wears your D down. But our D really hunkered down on those shifts.”
4. No. 22 shows little rust
The last time defenseman Brett Pesce played in a Canes game, David Ayres was becoming a folk hero as an emergency goalie and no one knew very much about a novel coronavirus. That Feb. 22, 2020, when Pesce injured a shoulder in the game at Toronto and needed surgery.
But Pesce was back -- finally -- on Thursday. No. 22 put in 18 minutes at even strength and was effective on the penalty kill.
“He was out for so long and we got used to playing without him, and then you stick a guy in there like that and it’s like ‘Wow.,’” Brind’Amour said. “He was pretty darn good for being out almost a year. We missed him. He is world class”
5. Quickie adjusted quickly
They call Jesper Fast “Quickie” for obvious reasons -- his last name and the way the Swedish forward plays. The guy stays on the move. He’s a hustler all over the ice.
Fast’s transition to his new team should be a quick one, as well, even during the pandemic when team outings and face time is limited. He had an efficient 19 shifts in his first game with the Canes, had a game-high five hits, blocked a shot and won some board battles.
This story was originally published January 15, 2021 at 8:36 AM.
