Panthers Suffer Blowout Loss to Hurricanes in Preseason

The Panthers sent a patchwork roster full of minor leaguers to Raleigh to take on a very full Carolina Hurricanes roster. And it ended exactly as expected.

The Florida Panthers sent a group of minor leaguers to Raleigh take on a Carolina Hurricanes roster largely occupied by full-time NHLers. And the result was exactly what you would expect.

Carolina ran Florida out of the building, blitzing them to the tune of an 8-2 victory on Friday night.

The Panthers were sloppy from the jump — they could not stay out of the penalty box, there were a lot of missed defensive assignments and the skilled Hurricanes lineup took advantage.

It started 6:59 into the game, when Josiah Slavin potted home a Shayne Gostisbehere rebound after Josh Davies was called for a penalty after checking a Hurricanes player from behind.

The Panthers held firm for the remainder of the first period, with Spencer Knight stepping up to make eight saves on the nine shots he saw in the opening frame, but the wheels quickly fell off.

Seth Jarvis walked right past Tobias Bjornfot, beat another defender with a toe drag, then put the up right in the top shelf to break the dam open 4:02 into the second period.

It was the first of five goals the Hurricanes scored in the second period, including two power play goals on three power play attempts, and nobody looked particularly good in that period.

Desperation set in, discipline went out the window and the Carolina was able to pick Florida apart with some quick passing and some point shots with traffic in front.

The young Panthers did not do a good job of clearing the front of the net and Carolina took advantage with a litany of shots from the perimeter.

Sean Walker scored a power play marker with a point shot that found its way past Knight with traffic in front 9:20 into the second period. Jarvis then deflected a Walker shot past Knight 2:32 later.

Jordan Staal then got the Hurricanes on the board seconds after a power play expired after William Carrier threaded a pass through a busy slot to find him with 4:05 to go.

Oliver Okuilar scored the lone Florida goal with 3:27 to go in the second period, deflecting a Mike Benning shot off of a face-off right at the beginning of a power play.

Jack Roslovic put another power play marker on the board with 28 seconds to go in the second period.

Knight’s night would finish after that second period with six goals allowed on 21 shots.

Time to overreact?

I think not.

Just read everything i wrote before that stat line.

This was the result the Panthers expected to happen. Coach Paul Maurice said such before the team flew off to North Carolina this morning.

“Spencer is ready for NHL action. I have no doubt about that,” Maurice said. “What I want him to be able to do is go in and enjoy it and have some fun with it. Even if it’s a 50-shot night, maybe a whole bunch behind him, I just want him to find a way to enjoy that — just the work and the process of it.

“Exhibition or not, it’s been a while since he’s been in those NHL games, and I think it’s the perfect game for him because he’s probably seeing 50 tonight and it will occupy all of your senses to stay in the immediate, so I think it’ll be great for him.”

Mental fortitude was what Maurice was looking for, and Knight dealt with barrages of multiple shots at a time fairly well, particularly in the first period. But this was not meant to be a standout performance like his 19-save “shutout” from the opening half of the Panthers’ preseason opener on Sunday.

As long as he shows it, he’s fine.

Now, as for those pesky Hurricanes? They will likely be on the reverse side of one of these beat downs on Saturday when they send their minor league guys to play a veteran Panthers lineup in Sunrise.

Stay tuned for Saturday night’s article about how the Panthers look like they’re going to repeat as Cup Champs.