On Wednesday night in Raleigh, the Carolina Hurricanes played their 5th of 6 preseason games against the Washington Capitals. The team notched its 3rd consecutive win in a shootout after a wild 3-on-3 stalemate prior to that. There are still things to work on and injuries have crept into the picture in terms of building an opening night lineup, but overall the team seems to be rounding into form.
The game featured near NHL lineups but did feature a Hurricanes lineup minus 2 of the team's top 4 defensemen (Ron Hainsey and James Wisniewski) who were both out with what are believed to be minor injuries. The summer of promise for the Canes young group of defensemen got both a boost and dragged back down to the reality of developing young defensemen at the same time.
20-year old Jaccob Slavin started alongside Justin Faulk on the top pairing and had what I would call a "learning night" that started with Alexander Ovechkin undressing him between the circles for a goal only 20 seconds into the game. Slavin had some other struggles with turnovers but did seem to settle in as the game wore on. None of this diminishes the promise he has shown in training camp, but it did provide a reminder of how hard it is to make the jump from lower level hockey (he was playing college hockey this time last season) to the NHL.
Noah Hanifin, who stepped up into Slavin's slot about midway through the 1st period had a better night. He too had a couple 'oopses' here and there, but it is becoming increasingly clear that a basic physical level (skating, strength, agility, ability to process the game), he is not as an 18-year old in way over his head at the NHL level.
Finally, Brett Pesce who is is also entering the NHL fray straight from playing college hockey last season looked surprisingly comfortable in a top 4 role next to John-Michael Liles. If you are into young defenseman fawning, check out my comments on him in my game recap at the Canes and Coffee site.
At forward, it still feels like a bit of a blender mix to me, but the group was pretty good on Wednesday. The 1st line of Versteeg/EStaal/Lindholm netted an even strength goal as did the 2nd line of Gerbe/JStaal/Nash. The 3rd line of Skinner/Rask/Terry was quieter but generally played a decent game in all 3 zones.
The power play did score 5-on-3 but still looked disjointed at times, and the penalty kill looked good and appears ready to carry over from a strong 2014-15.
Next up are 3 things:
1) It will be interesting to see what Bill Peters does with forward line combinations heading into Friday's final preseason game.
2) There are still 4-5 cuts to be made with probably 3 coming on defense and maybe the most challenging being a final decision at forward where Brock McGinn, Joakim Nordstrom and Derek Ryan are all making decent pushes for the last spot.
3) The Penguins are in Raleigh on Friday for the last chance to prepare in game action.
What say you Canes fans? Am I right that the team is rounding into form? Do you think any of the young defensemen past Hanifin have a chance to stick in Raleigh past opening night? Who wins the last forward slot?
Twitter=@CanesandCoffee
Matt Karash is a long-time passionate Hurricanes hockey fan, season ticket holder and also the founder of Canes and Coffee web site.
Go Canes!