Night of season-firsts for Hurricanes yields one they’d rather have waited on: A first loss
Opening night games in the NHL can be unpredictable and it proved to be that way Friday for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Certainly for coach Rod Brind’Amour.
“I honestly didn’t know what I was watching most of that game,” Brind’Amour said.
The Tampa Bay Lightning came into Lenovo Center to begin the new season and walked out with a 4-1 victory as forward Nikita Kucherov had a third-period hat trick and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy got the job done in net with 20 saves.
“We got Kucherov’ed tonight,” Brind’Amour said.
Albeit, two of the Kucherov goals were empty-netters after the Canes pulled their starter, Frederik Andersen, for an extra attacker in the final few minutes of regulation. But the Lightning also scored a pair of power-play goals in rapid-fire fashion — the first by Brayden Point early in the second period, the second by Kucherov in the third.
“I thought they played a great game, shut us down, didn’t give us a lot of room,” Brind’Amour said. “We weren’t willing to work hard enough to get our opportunities.
“We created nothing. It was a tough night.”
It was not what the sellout crowd expected. They were loud in the first period when Canes captain Jordan Staal converted a William Carrier pass into Carolina’s first goal of the season.
Staal’s goal came after some forechecking hustle by Jordan Martinook, who forced a turnover. Carrier, signed by Carolina in the offseason, picked up the loose puck, swung behind the net and found Staal open to the far side of the crease.
But Staal’s goal came after a sluggish, stumbling start by the home team in the opening period. The Canes played better later in the period and parts of the third, and had some decent scoring chances, but most of the rest was ragged and at times disjointed.
There was nothing smooth about the Canes’ power plays — Carolina had one shot. And their five-on-five play was neither effective nor dangerous.
“There were turnovers all over the place,” Brind’Amour said. “They’re a good team and they know how to win. They were tight on you, and you can’t be fancy in certain areas.”
Brind’Amour decided to move Andrei Svechnikov onto the top line with center Sebastian Aho and winger Seth Javris after having Jack Roslovic on Aho’s line with Jarvis late in training camp. Svechnikov had five shots, being denied on an early power move to the net, but the line did not generate enough.
The Lightning played it like the looser, more focused team. They came to the Triangle early in the week with Hurricane Milton aimed at the Florida Gulf Coast — many bringing their families — and were relieved when Tampa did not take a direct hit from the storm, sparing some of the players’ homes.
The Lightning no longer have Steven Stamkos in the lineup wearing the “C” but still have Vasilevskiy patrolling the net and have added forward Jake Guentzel to help replace Stamkos.
Guentzel received some boos from Canes fans, as expected. Carolina picked up the point-producing forward before the NHL deadline last season to bolster the lineup for the Stanley Cup playoffs, but could not re-sign him after the season and eventually traded him to Tampa Bay.
Guentzel assisted on both empty-net goals by Kucherov, which finished off a four-point night by the sniper. Kucherov assisted on Point’s power-play goal with a nice pass to the slot.
Point’s power-play score came at 2:33 of the second period, requiring 12 seconds. Kucherov’s go-ahead power-play goal, on a ripped one-timer, was at 11:06 of the third and needed just six seconds.
“They can make you pay pretty quick,” Staal said. “You can look at special teams, but our five-on-five play was pretty gross, really.
“Lot of turnovers. Lot of trying to mosey through the neutral zone when there’s nothing there.. We weren’t really ready to embrace the grind. ... We just weren’t willing to go play in their end and grind it out and get some hits and just muck it up.”
The Canes and Lightning were scheduled to play again Saturday in Tampa, but that game has been postponed and will be played at a date still to be determined.
The Canes instead will practice and prepare for their game Tuesday against New Jersey at the Lenovo Center.
“I hope to a man, including myself, we’ll be better,” Staal said. “That’s the game, right. It’s always about the next day, the next moment. Obviously we’ve got to learn from how flat we were today and the mistakes made.”
This story was originally published October 11, 2024 at 9:49 PM.
