RECAP: Panthers blow past Hurricanes in Game 1 of Prospect Showcase

Morrisville, N.C. --You could tell players had been looking forward to this game all summer.
Filling up the back of the net in Game 1 of the Prospect Showcase, the Florida Panthers cruised to a convincing 6-1 win over the host Carolina Hurricanes at Invisalign Arena on Friday morning.
"It was great," Charlotte Checkers coach Geordie Kinnear said. "I thought early it was back and forth, and then I thought in the second and third periods we started to make a few more plays. That's what you really want to see. They all got better. There was definitely growth."

Opening up the scoring on a delayed penalty, Vasily Ponomarev powered his way around a defender before setting up Noel Gunler for a tap-in goal from the right doorstep with a tape-to-tape centering feed to give the Hurricanes an early 1-0 advantage at 7:55 of the first period.
That would prove to be the lone goal given up during a stellar showing for Mack Guzda.
"Guz came in and shut the door," Kinnear said of the 21-year-old goaltending prospect. "He looked very confident. That's a hard position to play when you haven't played all summer. All the sudden the pace is higher. I thought he did a great job with it."
Evening things up for the Panthers, Liam Arnsby pounced on a rebound after a shot from Ethan Keppen, who got the puck after Josh Davies came out on top in a 1-on-1 battle in the neutral zone, and sent the rubber past Patrik Hamrla to make it 1-1 at 17:34.
"Excellent performance," said Arnsby, a seventh-round pick (214th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft. "Huge win. I think that was all set during training camp. We had high-tempo practices and we worked hard. I think that's just the result of a good training camp translating into a game."
Capitalizing on a power play in the second period, the Panthers took the lead when Xavier Cormier set up in the slot and tipped a point shot from Santtu Kinnunen, who showed great poise while quarterbacking the man advantage, to make it 2-1 around the 12-minute mark.
Picking up his second point of the game in epic fashion, Davies, who the Panthers scooped up in the sixth round (186th overall) in 2022, increased the lead to 3-1 when he slipped behind Carolina's defense and tucked a backhand shot around Hamrla on a breakaway at 7:33.
"I knew they were changing there, so I kind of posted up," Davies said of the goal. "A great stretch pass. I knew I had time, so I faked a forehand shot, brought it backhand and it worked out for me. … We were all looking forward to getting down here for the start of rookie camp. ... I think we came together fast and took advantage of it. We just played our game out there and came out with a win."
Later in the period, Davies nearly pulled off the same move after setting himself up for a breakaway on the penalty kill, but Hamrla came up with the save the second time around.
"A lot of purpose to his game," Kinnear said. "He's heavy, direct and made plays."
Keeping their foot on the gas, the Panthers lit the lamp twice within the first four minutes of the third period. After Patrick Giles finished off an absolutely filthy feed from Sandis Vilmanis with a nifty goal to make it 4-1, Marek Alscher buried a short-side snipe to up the advantage to 5-1 at 4:05.
"Great pass by him," Giles, who served as one of the team's alternate captains, said of his goal. "Good job by Sourdy (Justin Sourdif) getting it in the zone there. He just put it on my tape and I kind of had lane to the net.
"We had a good couple days of practice down in Florida, and we were fired up to get the first game in. I think the first period was a little tough on the conditioning side of things, but I think we did well towards the end."
Capping off the scoring spree, Vilmanis, a fifth-round pick (157th overall) in 2022, turned on his afterburners, zoomed around a defender and snuck a short-side shot into the back of the cage to make it 6-1.
"We want to have growth every single day," Kinnear said of the team's hot start to the Prospect Showcase. "I thought there was growth from Day 1 until now. … We're not just focused on the results. There's a big picture here. We want to play the right way, but we want to build over the course of a long season."

REMAINING SCHEDULE

Saturday, September 17
Practice Day
Game 2: Sunday, September 18
Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (PNC Arena) | 1 p.m.
Game 3: Monday, September 19
Florida Panthers vs. Nashville Predators (PNC Arena) | 10 a.m.
To view the roster for this weekend's tournament, click
HERE
.
The Florida Panthers will kick off the 2022-23 season at FLA Live Arena against the Philadelphia Flyers on October 19, 2022. The first 10,000 fans through the doors will receive a commemorative magnet schedule courtesy of Bally Sports Florida. Click HERE to purchase your tickets today!