Carolina Hurricanes: Three takeaways from first loss of season

Vincent Trocheck haunts the Panthers some more

Let’s let the third takeaway be a positive here. Vincent Trocheck continues to haunt his former team. His powerplay marker cut the lead to 4-2 midway through the 2nd on the major assessed to Ryan Lomberg. Trocheck pushes himself to the point per game mark again after a rather quiet hot start to the season, and the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native could genuinely be the first-line center here soon.

Given the struggles of Aho that I talked about earlier, Trocheck’s performances genuinely raise the question of pushing him up to the 1C. Now, I wouldn’t do that because I’d argue that his sheltered role away from big defenders does aid his totals, but they’re certainly not only because of being sheltered and he could do a job. More so, it could give Aho a chance to regain his confidence before moving back up.

Trocheck’s numbers against Florida continue to impress as he haunts his former team. We know how talented Trocheck is and we know that he is a very capable player. He’s shown a lot of signs of getting back to that 70+ point total he once hit with these very same Florida Panthers, although injuries have rather derailed his career in terms of becoming a true star forward.

Carolina did not play well enough to win this game, but the scoreline was harsh on them. They were not good enough to win, but this shouldn’t have been anything more than 2-1 or 3-1 Florida with the empty netter. Anyhow, that’s it for this one, we’ll be back soon with the keys to the Tampa Bay game, but until then, thank you for reading, and LET’S GO CANES!