First Period
Fans watching tonight's preseason game at home faced technical difficulties that had some tuning in a few minutes late for the first period. The good news is they didn't miss much. Tony DeAngelo was able to fend off a 3-on-1 rush early into the frame. Carolina wasn't able to do much on a power play except for Dmitry Orlov ringing it off the post.
Tampa's Alex Barre-Boulet opened scoring on the power play 15:37 into the game. Though, Canes fans didn't have long to complain. Nine seconds later Carolina's Japlen Halbgewachs collected a loose puck in front of the net before slinging it behind the netminder.
From there, Carolina controlled play until the end of the first. Including another goal, this time from Caleb Jones. Unger-Sorum created the turnover with a strong forecheck. Jamieson Rees was standing in front of the blue paint screening the goalie. A kneeling Jones shoots from the point. Carolina leaves the first period up by one after allowing the first goal.
Second Period
Carolina spent the first half of the second period killing penalties on Kieffer Bellows and Dylan Coghlan. Freddie Andersen was forced to stand tall to defend against offensive pushes by the Bolts. Pyotr Kochetkov entered the game with just over seven minutes remaining in the frame. Delayed by Tampa's continued momentum.
Entering the final minutes it seemed like the story of the period was going to be Carolina's penalties costing them their momentum. Then Tony DeAngelo almost caused an offensive turnover. Attempting to send the puck to the far boards before he "bobbled" it. Kochetkov was forced to take a step out of his paint to play it up ice. Carolina's Brendan Perlini collects the pass and puts a shot on net. It deflects back up the ice to the stick of Tony DeAngelo who makes it 3-1 just moments after making his defensive mistake.
Oh yeah, Kochetkov also picked up the assist on the goal! It's a classic TDA moment to get mad at him for a defensive mistake just for him to score moments later.
"If it wasn't for Pytor [Kochetkov] coming out of the net, I would have given them a breakaway," DeAngelo said to Cory Lavalette after the game. "I tried to make a backhand pass. [The puck] flew off my stick. You know, I just bobbled it. He makes a good play and then we get lucky down at the other end. Sometimes good things happen like that. It was nice."
Third Period
Tampa again controlled play early in the period. Forcing Kochetkov to make four saves before Carolina was able to respond. Dylan Coghlan catching Tampa in the middle of a line change sent a fantastic pass to Carolina's Noel Gunler who scored on the breakaway.
Not willing to give up their own momentum the Bolts kept up the pressure after Carolina's goal and scored just seventy-five seconds later.
Carolina's Kieffer Bellows jumped on the rebound and restored Carolina's lead to three.
That was all she wrote. Each team had their chances in the final ten minutes but nothing came of it. Carolina defeats Tampa Bay in their first preseason game 5-1!
Takeaways From Tonight
Relax, it's the first game of the preseason. There isn't much to take away from tonight's game. The NHLers in the lineup looked good. Chatfield, Orlov, and even DeAngelo made solid plays throughout the night.
Both Andersen and Kochetkov only allowed a single goal. Neither of which were 'bad' or 'soft'. Sorry, no goalie hate tonight.
Flex Unger-Sorum earned his way into the hearts of a lot of Caniacs today including the head coach. "To be honest, I wasn't sure. He just turned eighteen," Brind'Amour said after the game. "You're not sure how he's going to take the moment. He looked like he had no problem. - Trying to make plays all the time. You like to see that. Especially in these kinds of games. He was solid. He caught my eye for sure."
It was good to see Jamieson Rees in-game action. He sat out the Prospect Showcase earlier this month to recover from a surgery in the offseason. I'd also guess he's going to get some brownie points from the head coach for his net-front presence on Jones' goal.
It was also nice to watch a game without digital ads on the dasher boards.
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