The Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes squared off in the first of two meetings this preseason, this one at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. Both teams dressed mainly prospects, though the Lightning iced two forward lines of NHL veterans. The Hurricanes countered by playing their starting netminder at the NHL level, along with his AHL counterpart. Here are the standout players from tonight’s contest.
Alex Barre-Boulet
After struggling for years to crack the NHL roster, Barre-Boulet was noticeable in this game. He was all over the ice and unafraid to shoot the puck. That was evident on two of the Lightning’s three power play opportunities in this game.
During the team’s first chance with the man advantage, he won the face-off and then quickly snapped a shot over the shoulder of Hurricanes starter Frederik Anderson for a brief 1-0 lead.
On the third opportunity, with the Bolts trailing 2-1, he made a nice play to hold the puck in before passing to Nick Paul. Paul then set up Brandon Hagel with a glorious scoring chance that Anderson had to be sharp and quick to make the save on.
Darren Raddysh
Fresh off of his first NHL playoff appearance, Raddysh looked solid in this game. He had the primary assist on both Lightning goals.
Unfortunately, the Hurricanes second goal by Caleb Jones deflected off his body and past Lightning netminder Hugo Alnefelt. Positioning will be important for him going forward, as he’s likely to start the season on the second or third pairing.
Frederik Anderson/Pyotr Kochetkov
The goaltending tandem for the Hurricanes this game was nothing short of brilliant.
Anderson played the first 32:18 and allowed one goal while stopping a lot of Grade A chances by the Lightning. Kochetkov then took the reins, giving up one goal of his own. He also had the secondary assist on Anthony DeAngelo’s late second period goal to give the Hurricanes a 3-1 lead.
Anthony Cirelli/Brandon Hagel/Conor Sheary line
It took a little time to get completely in sync, but by the second period, this line was buzzing all around the Hurricanes net. Cirelli and Hagel each had great opportunities to tie the game just to be denied by the goalpost, Anderson, or both.
Given the amount of pressure they generated, it was a matter of time before they broke through. Unfortunately for the Lightning, it happened too late to mount a comeback, but Sheary’s tip past Kochetkov made it 4-2 late in the third period. Sheary finished the game with one goal and one assist, a solid showing for the guy expected to fill the void left behind by the departure of Alex Killorn.
The Lightning’s next game is Wednesday night, September 27, against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. Puck drop is slated for 8 pm EST.
