RECAP: Hurricanes 4, Panthers 1 (Rookie Showcase)

ESTERO, Fla. -- Kai Schwindt scored and Mack Guzda made 27 saves as the Florida Panthers opened up the 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase with a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at Hertz Arena on Friday.

"It was good to get the first one under your belt," said head coach Geordie Kinnear, the bench boss of Florida's AHL affiliate. "It's always fun to compete again, get rid of those summer hockey habits and get after it. It was a good start for the guys."

With the Panthers getting into some penalty trouble early, the Hurricanes took advantage. Earning a 5-on-3 power play late in the first period, defenseman Dominick Fensore crept down from the blue line and potted a rebound to break the ice and give the Hurricanes at 1-0 lead.

Helping limit the damage, Guzda stood tall in Florida’s net. Tracking the puck well through traffic, the 22-year-old stopped 11 of 12 shots in the opening 20 minutes of action.

"You go all summer waiting to play and work all summer," said Guzda, who is preparing for his sophomore season in the professional ranks after posting a 16-9-3 record during his first campaign in the AHL with Charlotte in 2022-23. "It was nice to get out there and get to playing games.

"This time of the year, it's just about finding it and getting back to your gameday habits, kind of your anchors. Playing it one shot at a time. It's kind of cliche to say, but it's just getting out of the summer mindset and back into the gameday mindset."

Picking up his second point, Fensore helped double the lead for the Hurricanes in the second period when he set up forward Noel Gunler for a goal from the slot to make it 2-0 at 5:46. Making it 3-0 not long after that, forward Justin Robidas cut to the net and buried a centering feed at 12:13.

Getting the Panthers on the board, Schwindt grabbed the puck along the boards, skated to the top of the right circle and ripped a shot over goaltender Yaniv Perets’ blocker and into the top right corner of the cage to bring the score to 3-1 with 3:53 left in the middle frame.

"I credit that to [forward Liam] Arnsby for winning the draw," Schwindt, who inked a three-year, entry-level contract with the Panthers last summer, said of the play. "I couldn't do it without my linemates."

Earning another power play in the early goings of the third period, the Hurricanes regained their three-goal cushion when forward Blake Murray slipped in a puck from on the doorstep to make it 4-1 at 3:03 after Guzda had sprawled out to make a stellar save on the initial shot of the sequence.

"He's a great competitor," Schwindt said of Guzda. "He stood on his head tonight."

In the post-game shootout, Guzda added one more impressive save to his night.

You can check it out in the clip below.

THEY SAID IT

"Just lay it all on the line. I've got a lot of experience and feel like I'm a lot better of a goalie coming into camp this year than I was last year. I'm going to try to come into camp and play to the best of my ability." -- Guzda on his mindset heading into training camp

"I love it. They definitley create lots of space for myself. I try to get in there as well. They're two great buddies of mine and great hockey players as well. It's really fun." -- Schwindt on playing on a line with Josh Davies and Liam Arnsby

"He's competative. First and foremost, he's a good teammate. That's what we love about him. He always competes on every single puck in practice. He makes his teammates better. I know he's put a big summer in." -- Kinnear on Guzda

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Panthers will continue the Rookie Showcase with a matchup against the Nashville Predators on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.

A live stream of the game will be available at FloridaPanthers.com.

"It's a short window," Kinnear said of the jam-packed weekend. "You just continue to get better. It's part of the process. It's not always going to be easy and you're not always going to play great, but as long as you have that mindset that you learned a lesson tonight and are going to move forward, it's a positive."