The Panthers kicked off their preseason on Monday with a doubleheader on the road against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. In Game 1, captain Aleksander Barkov scored with less than second left in overtime to lift the Panthers to a 4-3 win. In Game 2, Spencer Knight, who inked a three-year contract extension on Tuesday, stopped 19 of 20 shots in a 4-0 defeat.
Over the course of those two games in the Music City, several offsesaon additions made their debuts with the Panthers, including Matthew Tkachuk, Colin White, Cousins, Rudolfs Balcers and Marc Staal. Additionally, it was the first game behind the bench for new Panthers head coach Paul Maurice.
"I think it's good just to get chemistry with new guys," forward Carter Verhaeghe said when asked about the preseason. "We have a couple new guys this year. Just building the chemistry, getting the power play and penalty kill going, and just putting our systems in place are the biggest things. But if we can win, we want to win. Once we get out there, things get competitive."
Also getting off to a good start in the preseason, the Hurricanes opened their exhibition slate with a 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at PNC Arena on Tuesday. In the win, Andrei Svechnikov had a goal and an assist while Frederik Andersen stopped 20 of 21 shots in net.
During the 2021-22 regular season, Florida went a perfect 3-0-0 against Carolina.
"Coming into games, we're definitely in shape and ready to go," Verhaeghe said. "I think it's just building our puck touches and our timing right now. That's the biggest thing for us right now. … It's going to be exciting to be back in our building in front of our fans. Excited to have some fun."
Starting to turn their attention to special teams as the preseason rolls along, the Panthers showcased two new power-play units during this morning's skate, including a dangerous looking top unit featuring Barkov, Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Brandon Montour and Aaron Ekblad.
In 2021-22, Florida ranked fifth in the NHL with a 24.4% success rate on the man advantage.
"We hadn't even touched it in the Nashville games," Maurice said when asked about the power play. "That's their first walkthrough of it. That's kind of how the lines got structured for today. We wanted to make sure we had at least one power-play unit. We'll build the lineups more [the rest of the way] to make sure that we have a special teams unit with guys that we think we're going to have each night."
With experimentation always being a primary theme during the preseason, the Panthers will also try a new look on their top line against the Hurricanes. After finishing sixth in Calder Trophy voting last season, Anton Lundell is expected to saddle up alongside Verhaeghe and Barkov on Line 1.
"It's going to be fun," Verhaeghe said of playing with Lundell, who chipped in 44 points (18 goals, 26 assists) from the third line during his rookie campaign with the Panthers in 2021-22. "It's a new position for him, but it's not much different. He's an awesome player and very skilled."
For more lineup information, check @JamesonCoop on Twitter closer to puck drop.
