In their first preseason match up against Tampa Bay, the Carolina Hurricanes forced a shut out. With another game against the Lightning on the horizon tonight, what can we expect from the Canes?
The Carolina Hurricanes were able to force a shut out against the Tampa Bay Lightning last night in their first game of the preseason. I won’t go into too much detail, seeing as there will be a game review article at the end of all this.
But long story short, for a preseason game, the Canes looked good. Some standouts were Haydn Fluery, Roland McKeown, and both goailes. Tonight is the Hurricanes first home preseason game in which they look to knock out the defending President’s Trophy winners for a second night in a row.
The Canes will be using a different group of players tonight than they did last night in Tampa Bay. Here’s what the lineup is going to look like tonight at PNC Arena for the jerks.
Canes game group for the second preseason game. pic.twitter.com/mOA5PrFvur
— Chip Alexander (@ice_chip) September 18, 2019
I’d imagine the forward lines and defensive pairings will stay similar, if not the same, that they have in practice the past week. But that’s something we won’t know until later.
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I do have a couple questions heading into tonight’s game. The first is if the Canes power play can replicate the success from last night. There’s no denying our power play was not good last season. In last night’s game however, the Hurricanes were able to score on a third period power play. Tonight a different group of player will be playing so, hopefully they will do the same, if not better.
Another question is, can the defense be as good as it was last night. James Reimer only face a total of eight shots. Anton Forsberg faced seven. Both preformed really well, especially in the moments when there were some breakdowns. The fact they faced so few shot is a testament to the hard work the other guys put in.
The Canes have been hoarding defensemen this off-season. And with tonight featuring big name defensemen Dougie Hamilton, Jaccob Slavin, and Jake Gardiner as well as prospects like Derek Sheppard, the blue line should be an exceptionally strong one.
Tonight’s game against the Bolts should definitely be an exciting one. It is the first Hurricanes game at home since the Eastern Conference Final after all. This should give us an idea on how the other group of players have been progressing in training camp. And if it’s anything like last night, I expect them to be looking just as good.
Question for CC Readers: Who do you think will be the standout player tonight?