Both benches were missing real pieces. Carolina played without Seth Jarvis, who's ahead of schedule in his shoulder recovery but wasn't cleared for Sunday, and without defenseman Alexander Nikishin, a hole on the blue line that showed up in a second period Florida ran away with. Florida was down Brad Marchand, out into October after his August surgery, and Jonah Gadjovich, still out indefinitely — yet still put up 6 goals with most of its regulars in the lineup, per Paul Maurice's plan for the home opener.
These two aren't done with each other. Carolina and Florida meet again Tuesday in Raleigh, the second of a two-game preseason look before the schedules turn real, and Sunday's blowout gives the Hurricanes a specific problem to fix before then: whatever broke down in that second period.
The linescore tells the story cleanly. Carolina matched Florida goal for goal in the first period, then got outscored 4-2 in the second and shut out the rest of the way. A game that opened even turned into a laugher in the middle 20 minutes and never came back the other direction.
Florida had dropped 2 of its last 5 games in this preseason window before Sunday's win pushed it back to 3 winning form, while Carolina carried a hotter recent run in — 4 wins in its last 5 — into an opener that didn't reflect it at all against a Panthers team simply getting more push out of its depth pieces.
- OutSeth Jarvis (C) — Jarvis (shoulder) was on the ice for practice Thursday, Ryan Henkel of The Hockey News reports.09/17
- OutAlexander Nikishin (D)09/16
- Injured ReserveJonah Gadjovich (LW) — Gadjovich (upper body) is out indefinitely, the team announced Thursday.09/17
- Injured ReserveBrad Marchand (LW) — Marchand (lower body) is expected to spend October rehabbing, per Panthers TV Rinkside Reporter Katie Engleson on Thursday.09/17
Neither absence list changes overnight, so expect a similar shorthanded look Tuesday in Raleigh. For Carolina, the real question is whether a healthier blue line closes the kind of gap that opened up in Sunday's second period; for Florida, it's whether Maurice keeps leaning on regulars or starts working in the players fighting for bottom-six jobs.