The Carolina Hurricanes started their six-game preseason against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, Sept. 26 and quickly showed some early signs of dominance.
The Hurricanes took on the Lightning in a midweek matchup in Raleigh. Carolina looked to shuffle possible defensive pairings and see what forwards could be put on the roster. In goal, the Canes shuffled between goaltenders Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov, who are likely year-long staples of the 2023-24 roster.
Plenty of unfamiliar faces took the ice for Carolina as the coaching staff tested different possibilities on the offense and defense. Defensemen Dmitry Orlov and Tony DeAngelo were the first defensive pairing on the ice and proved to be an effective duo.
“[Orlov] was really good, really solid,” DeAngelo said. “We move the puck really well together.”
The first period showed some early weaknesses in Carolina’s roster as it could not execute on its first power play of the season. This blunder undoubtedly gave Canes fans a sense of deja-vu — the team is notoriously bad at scoring on the power play. Last year the Canes were below the league average of 21.31 power play percentage, but while they’re dismal at scoring on the power play, they make up for it in penalty kill.
“First and foremost, we want to compete, make sure they’re working hard every shift,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour. “Then there are those little plays — are they picking up the nuances of the system and are they doing what we asked them to do?”
Tampa scored the first goal of the game in the first period, but the Canes got on the board less than 10 seconds later. Left wing Japlen Halbgewachs scored the first goal of the preseason for the Canes, and defensemen Caleb Jones tacked on another just a few minutes later. Up 2-1, the home team went into the second period settled into a groove.
The Canes scored again in the second period, bringing the score up to 3-1. This goal marked Deangelo’s first career preseason goal. DeAngelo played for the Canes during the 2021-22 season and totalled 51 points in 64 games.
“I’m looking to get my touches in, trying to make sure my hands feel good,” DeAngleo said. “Those were really good, so now [the goal] is taking the hands back to full speed …It’ll take care of itself.”
Carolina’s netminders switched during the second period as Andersen came out of the game with a .929 SV% and Kochekov got his turn between the pipes.
The third and final period saw two more goals from the Canes, with a goal from Tampa in between them. As the clock ticked down on the game, many fans looked ahead with high hopes for the regular season to come.
As the preseason continues, the Canes will take on the Florida Panthers in Raleigh on Wednesday, Sept. 27 with puck drop set for 7 p.m.
