Tonight the Carolina Hurricanes kick off the preseason against the Tampa Bay Lightning! This is not a drill! I repeat this is not a drill!
Okay, tonight's game isn't going to be the most exciting of the season. In fact, you wouldn't be wrong in saying that it's the least important game of the premature season. The names appearing on the head coach's lineup card tonight aren't well-known by Canes fans. - Excluding the die-hards and prospect junkies. - Instead, most of tonight's players are prospects who visit Raleigh a couple of times a year and players who signed professional tryouts.
A notable absent from tonight's lineup is Vasily Ponomarev who is favored to force his way onto the team by the end of camp. Much like Seth Jarvis did a few years ago. Unfortunately, Ponomarev is still recovering from a non-serious tweak to his knee.
Zach Aston-Reese is still trying to earn a contract entering tonight's game. He's joined in the forward group by prospects including Carolina's first-round pick in 2019, Ryan Suzuki. It feels unlikely that we'll see much of tonight's forward group once the regular season gets underway.
Dmitry Orlov will don a Hurricanes' uniform for the first time in front of Caniacs tonight. He joins other well-known names like Jalen Chatfield, Tony DeAngelo, and Dylan Coghlan on the blue line. Caleb Jones and Nathan Beaulieu each have NHL experience but aren't seen as locks on the opening night roster.
When it comes to the goal tenders expect Andersen and Kochetkov to spill the game as evenly as they can. Whichever goalie starts the game should be replaced around the 30-minute mark of game action.
There isn't going to be a ton of information to sus out tonight. You're not going to get a view of the new power-play units. Nor will you get a chance to see where different players landed in the lineup during the off-season roster shuffle. That's just not what the first game of the preseason is for.
Use tonight's game to relax and get to know some players that you don't see too often. Get your mind settled back into midseason form for tracking the puck during play and complaining about the officials. Don't read into the final result. No one is improving their Cup odds in the preseason.
How To Watch
It was shared by Hurricanes team reporter Walt Ruff via X, formerly known as Twitter. That the game will be broadcast live on the team's official website. As we get closer to game time (7 p.m. EST) visit Hurricanes.com or monitor the team's social media where I'm sure they will share the link.
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