Carolina Hurricanes rip through Winnipeg, Shutdown Jets 4-0 -NHL Preseason Update
Carolina Hurricanes showed the newly relocated Winnipeg Jets that if they want to win in the National Hockey League (NHL), they will have to give it their all by shutting them down, 4-0, at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sunday,
September 25, 2011.
Hurricanes finally won their first game of the 2011 NHL preseason following two straight losses to Buffalo Sabres and Nashville Predators. Winnipeg does not have a better record as they too now have a 1-4 record, only winning against Columbus Blue Jackets.
For Winnipeg, the preseason is a time to practice and get into form according to Jets forward, Tanner Glass.
"It's experience for a lot of these younger guys going into their first camps", Glass said. "I remember when I was in my first camp in Florida, it was fun to play against the big-name guys. As a young organization, an organization with a lot of good prospects,
I think it's good for those guys to play against some of the top players in the game".
Carolina was playing with a fully fledged attacking line-up consisting of captain Eric Staal, former rookie of the year, Jeff Skinner, Brandon Sutter, Joni Pitkanen, Tomas Kaberle and their number one goalie, Cam Ward.
Instead of that, Winnipeg played all of its prospects and mostly young players like Mark Stuart, Kyle Wellwood, Tanner Glass and Alex Burmistrov.
"It's right now about fine-tuning your game, getting your timing down and your battle level up", Glass added. "It's a faster game out there than junior or college, wherever you came from".
Zac Dalpe opened the scoring during the first period, followed by Jay Harrison nearly a minute later to allow Carolina to take a comfortable, 2-0 lead.
Jerome Samson scored unassisted with seven minutes remaining in the second along with another by Riley Nash on a power play to finalise the scoring.
Both teams just skated the time by during the final period and tried to work out their hands from a long offseason.
Cam Ward played brilliantly by making a perfect 26 saves as Winnipeg’s, David Aebischer, failed to handle the pressure and let four out of 25 shots through.
Jets are scheduled to go against Ottawa Senators on Monday while Carolina Hurricanes faceoff against Winnipeg again on Wednesday.
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