RECAP: Knight 'dialed in' during hard-fought loss to Hurricanes

RALEIGH -The Florida Panthers got a good look at several prospects and players on the bubble during a 4-3 preseason loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Saturday.
At the other end of the ice, the Hurricanes deployed most of their regulars.
"They kept going," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said when asked about the effort he saw from his players. "This is Day 11 [of training camp] for us. There wasn't a lot of natural energy in the game, but they kind of got wound up there in the second period. They were cheering for each other and made a game of it. It was good. A lot of these guys had a chance to play bigger minutes."

With play at 4-on-4, Brent Burns broke the ice for the Hurricanes when he threw a puck on net that sailed past a screened Spencer Knight to make it 1-0 at 6:12 of the first period. Soon after, Andrei Svechnikov sniped a shot from the left circle to increase Carolina's lead to 2-0 at 11:56.
Making his preseason debut, Burns was acquired by the Hurricanes from the Sharks in July after spending the previous 11 seasons with the San Jose Sharks. Winner of the 2017 Norris Trophy, Burns leads all active NHL defensemen in goals (227), assists (550) and points (777).
"Such a dynamic player and a dynamic personality," Maurice said of Burns.
Getting the Panthers on the board just 48 seconds into the second period, Chris Tierney floated a pass over a diving defender on a 2-on-1 rush onto the stick of Rudolfs Balcers. Finishing off the sweet dish, Balcers lifted a shot over Frederik Andersen's blocker to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Keeping up the pressure, Florida tied the game when Ryan Lomberg out-muscled a defender before backhanding a backdoor pass from Anton Levtchi into the cage to make it 2-2 at 4:52.
"They dressed pretty close to their full lineup, so we expected them to play fast and hard, which they did," said Lomberg, who's scored a pair of goals in the preseason. "Definitely a good fight from the boys. We were there the whole game -- fighting, clawing, skating. We worked, for sure."
Showing off his all-world skills between the pipes, Knight made arguably his biggest save of the game (there were a lot to choose from) when he sprawled out to rob Sebastian Aho on a 2-on-1 rush to keep the score deadlocked.
"When he does those things, we're not at all surprised," Lomberg said. "We see it every day."
Feeding off that highlight-reel stop, the Panthers took the lead just before the midway point of the middle frame when Zac Dalpe teed up a pass from Eetu Luostarinen on the power play and blasted a shot past Anderson from the right circle to give the Panthers a 3-2 advantage at 9:16.
After firing just two shots on goal in the first period, Florida scored on its first three shots of the second.
"The coach came in and didn't like the quiet bench after the first period, so it seemed like we started clicking after," said Dalpe, who captained Florida's AHL affiliate in Charlotte in 2021-22. "Obviously a nice goal by Tierney and Balcers, and then we followed it up. It was close there at times, for sure."
Setting the stage for an exciting final 20 minutes, the Hurricanes tied the game heading into the second intermission when Martin Necas connected on a booming one-timer to make it 3-3 at 14:44.
Netting what would go on to hold up as the evental game-winning goal, Burns put Carolina back on top when he sent a puck toward the crease that hit off a defender before squeaking into the net to make it 4-3 at 9-minute mark of the third period.
Showing off one more time during the waning minutes of regulation, Knight robbed Aho, who scored 37 goals for the Hurricanes last season, once again when he gloved what looked like a uncontested surefire goal from right on the doorstep at 18:15.
Finishing with 43 saves, Knight owns a .925 save percentage through two preseason starts.
"Boy, he made some great saves," Maurice said of Knight, who inked a three-year contract extension ealrier this week. "He was square in the net and really focused. For a young goaltender trying to get to that regular-season focus early can sometimes be a challenge, but he was dialed in."
With two more preseason games remaining, the Panthers will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday at FLA Live Arena.