Gold: Three thoughts from Game 1 win

By Adam Gold radio host 99.9 the Fan

As it turns out, the Carolina Hurricanes can play the physical game as well. The Canes threw their own bodies around at the Nashville Predators, dishing out 56 hits, in a 5-2 win as Carolina took a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven opening round series. Jordan Staal scored twice to lead the way, Brett Pesce dished out a pair of assists and the Canes played a dominant final two periods to get the win.

Traditionally, the game awards stars to the three best players, but we’re going to put a little twist on tradition and simply mention three huge moments that flipped this game in Carolina’s favor.

1-Quick response. About a minute and a half after Filip Forsberg gave the Predators a 1-0 lead, Teuvo Teravainen redirected a Pesce shot from the point past Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros for a 1-1 score. That the Hurricanes were able to draw even so quickly is not surprising. The Canes have done that often this year, and this team is blessed with a ton of firepower, especially since Teravainen’s return from concussion issues. How the Canes responded is really the bigger story and that brings us to…

2-Fourth line energy. Steven Lorentz, Jordan Martinook and Brock McGinn’s collective fingerprints were all over this game. They combined for 39 minutes on the ice, delivered 15 hits and it was Lorentz’ puck pressure and Martinook’s net-front presence that allowed Teravainen the room to deflect the Pesce shot through to equal the scoring in the first.

3-This is not a team that is easily taken out of their game. The Canes are more than capable of meeting the physical challenge if that’s what you’re interested in. There are times I wish Carolina would get there first, and tonight was one of those games. But, it was like, ‘well, if you insist’, and once the Canes decided that this is the way it had to be, they started taking it to Nashville.

I’d expect more of the same Wednesday night. Maybe the Hurricanes will even get there first.