Carolina Hurricanes: 3 Takeaways from Goalie Duel vs. Tampa

Call-ups Worked Well

It’s important to admire the two points as I have stressed so far in this piece, but it is a bigger must to talk about how well the kids played in this game. One stood out above the rest to me personally, but another was a cut above the other two. I want to start at the bottom and work up. Please do not think this is me saying that any of them were bad because they were not.

Max McCormick and Sheldon Rempal. Neither player was bad, and that line did a lot of good things. Both were aggressive on the forecheck, and both did everything that was asked of them on the 4th line. It’s nothing against them. They did a really good job stepping up in their debut for the Carolina Hurricanes. They did all the things you can ask someone to do who’s been sitting on the taxi squad waiting for this chance.

Moving up to the one who shone more than the previous two, but not as much as the other to me, and that is Steven Lorentz. He looked dangerous; he created chances almost every time he was on the ice. Playing with Ryan Dzingel and Jordan Staal, that line looked really dangerous all night long. Great physicality, good speed and a real good look on his NHL debut.

He generated himself a few scoring chances, some I think a higher skilled player probably converts on, but that was nothing short of an outstanding performance from Lorentz that he should be incredibly proud of. Two days skating after a week off, and to look as good as this kid did, speaks to his high levels of professionalism, and his desire to excel now he’s gotten his long awaited chance.

But to me, the one that stood out the most was Jake Bean. I do not think Bean is getting the credit he deserves for his performance. He just shut up anyone who ever doubted his talent, rather convincingly too, I might add. Haydn Fleury was his defensive partner and seemed to struggle a little when the pressure got tight. Bean looked right at home, and  I think a lot of people overlook that.

Last night, this team was without it’s second best defenseman. Jaccob Slavin is a HUGE miss for this team, but because of Bean’s performance, it’s going largely unnoticed. Everyone I see is saying what a great game Lorentz had, and that he played very well. But this defense held the Tampa Bay Lightning to mainly low percentage scoring chances, and played a big part in shutting them out. Bean deserves credit for his part in that.

Every single player that was put into this line-up for the first time this season played well. Across the board, they meshed well, and they instantly found themselves getting time on the penalty kill, and in situations that they wouldn’t under normal circumstances, and they excelled when they were put into those tough situations.

I don’t think McCormick, Rempal, Lorentz, or Bean can be praised highly enough after that performance right now. A great job by every single one of those players.