A new season has begun for the Carolina Hurricanes, and their title defense didn't quite get off to a great start. They raised the banner to the rafters, and that was about the only noteworthy thing that the Canes did for the rest of the night. Florida's Gustav Forsling spoiled the fun by scoring the night's only goal with 4.3 seconds left in overtime, handing the Canes a 1-0 loss.
While they banked a point, the group's effort, especially on the offensive end, left a lot to be desired. Fortunately, there are 83 games to go. To put the game behind us, I want to talk about some of the winners and losers from Tuesday's game, but not the players on the ice. There is more to a game than them. The coaches and the people at home are important parts of the action, too.
Losers: First-time NHL fans
If Tuesday night was your first time watching hockey or the Carolina Hurricanes, please understand that this offensive performance wasn't indicative of how good the team is. The same could probably be said for the Panthers' offense as well. These teams didn't showcase the firepower that their offenses possess, leading to a rather boring start to the season.
Despite dropping the puck two hours earlier than any other game on the docket, the first goal of the season actually came from William Nylander in Toronto. He scored 48 seconds into their game with Montreal, which began a little after 7 pm. Fans at the Lenovo Center and those tuned into the Panthers-Hurricanes game went nearly 65 minutes of play before someone finally broke through.
Head Coach Rod Brind'Amour put it best during his postgame interview, saying that his group "didn't grow the game" with their performance in the season opener. I concur. They looked like a rusty team on the offensive end, going 0-6 on the power play and firing just 15 shots at Jacob Markstrom. But, hey, we saw a fight, so that's somewhat exciting.
Winner: Tim Gleason
While the offense might've been dormant against the Panthers, there's one man who should feel pretty good about how his guys looked. Tim Gleason, a former Hurricanes defenseman and the genius behind the team's defense, made sure his guys looked ready to go. Honestly, I thought it was a solid night all the way through.
They might've only had 15 shots as a group, but they didn't allow that many either, seeing just 20 shots get to Brandon Bussi. Of course, one of them went into the net, but it was a 3-on-3 goal, and there was only one defenseman on the ice. The penalty kill, which Gleason orchestrates, was also phenomenal. They stopped all seven of Florida's attempts, holding the Panthers to four shots.
Bringing back five of the team's six defensemen certainly helps. The only "newcomer" to the lineup was Charles Alexis Legault, but he spent time with the team last season. He looked sharp to begin the year. K'Andre Miller looked really good, making a few great stick plays. It was encouraging to see such a good start on the defensive end. Now, the offense needs to join the fun.
Losers: ESPN
Usually, calling ESPN the company "losers" would suffice, but I'm not talking about the state of their hockey coverage, though I do loathe how they cover the game. However, I'm talking about the fact that they got this snoozefest of a contest to open their coverage. I love my group, but as I've already said, this was not the game to watch if you wanted some fireworks to start the year.
Adding insult to injury, the second game of their tripleheader wasn't exciting either, with the Rangers and the Bruins sitting scoreless for most of regulation before Boston's Fraser Minton, JJ Peterka, and Mark Kastelic scored 1:15 apart to win, 3-0. The late game between Vegas and Chicago suffered from the opposite problem, with the Golden Knights dominating the Blackhawks, 5-2.
I can't fault ESPN too much for what happened. In theory, their plan made sense. Carolina-Florida is a matchup that will get everyone talking; New York-Boston is an Original 6 matchup between two of the largest markets in the league; and Chicago-Vegas features another Original 6 market and the league runners-up. Some things are out of their control. Their coverage is still subpar, though.
Winners: Online trolls
For every post online talking about the Hurricanes winning the Stanley Cup, whether it's the video of Jordan Staal hoisting the Stanley Cup, the celebration in Raleigh, or the players' days with the Cup, you'll also find a few Panthers fans in the comments trying to rain on their parade. If you weren't already aware, the Canes' Cup win isn't valid since they didn't play Florida.
It screams "Hey, look at me! Make this about me!" to an annoying degree. The Canes had no control over who they faced during the Stanley Cup playoffs, just like the Panthers didn't have much of a say in how injuries would affect their season. However, the fact remains that Florida didn't make the playoffs, and the Canes did. They won 16 games against four teams. Sorry they didn't play yours.
Of course, a Florida victory over Carolina to begin the season brought out the worst of them, so they can "claim" this round. It's a tad ironic to call them "winners" in this situation, but I digress. Florida took the first round of the season series. There are two more between now and the end of the year. Why one team's success should be negated by something so juvenile still baffles me.
Winners: The "Now that the opener is out of the way" crowd
What the Hurricanes did last season deserves to be celebrated, and it certainly will be throughout the year. However, with this being the first game of the season and the night the banner was raised, the pomp and circumstance of it all was front and center. I refuse to call it a distraction and the reason that they lost this game, but others probably will.
Now, with the game behind them, it's time to turn their focus to the next game on Friday against the Washington Capitals. There won't be a ceremony. There shouldn't be any additional distractions for the second game of the year, and that's the way it needs to be. I won't predict that it'll be the cure-all for everything that struggled to click during the opener, but it certainly can't hurt.
Truthfully, there was no bigger game on the calendar than this one, so to have it done is a huge weight off everyone's back. They can focus on the job at hand, not that they weren't already doing that. They can put a lineup on the ice that isn't trying to combat Florida's physicality. Might that mean giving Bradly Nadeau or Felix Unger Sorum a call? I guess we'll see.
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