Carolina finally suffer their first loss of the regular season at the hands of the officials of this game, but the win is credited to the Florida Panthers. While there were a lot of calls that were just missed or phantom calls, Carolina did not deserve to win this game either. They have struggled a lot in the last 3 or 4 games, and it just came to a head in this loss to the Panthers.
Carolina’s slow start allowed the Panthers to jump ahead 4-0 at the end of the first period and never really have to worry from there. With the Penalty Kill struggling too, there was just nothing going on in the early part of this game for the Canes. In the 2nd period, Carolina tried to fight back but it was way too little, too late.
Florida hand the Canes their first loss of the season, and the Canes now have to learn from their mistakes as their next game isn’t any easier. Traveling across the state to take on the defending back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning was a daunting task already. But now, with Carolina’s weaknesses exposed in the biggest game of the season, it becomes a lot tougher.
We’re here to talk about how the Carolina Hurricanes can learn some lessons from this loss to help avoid the same fate against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was a horrid performance from the Carolina Hurricanes, but before we can move on, we need to understand where the Canes can become stronger for their next game. This is a performance that just wasn’t good enough.