Hurricanes Blow Past Penguins, 4-1

As I watched Carolina skate over, around and through our Penguins last night en route to a thoroughly convincing 4-1 victory at PPG Paints Arena, I couldn’t help but be impressed.

After all, the Hurricanes hemorrhaged a passel of quality players over the summer, including ex-Pen Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teräväinen and defensive mainstays Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei, and they haven’t missed a beat.

A testimony to the fine job coach Rod Brind’Amour has done.

Despite the considerable turnover, the ‘Canes still play the same way—fast, aggressive and disciplined. They simply smother you with pressure and don’t give you a chance to breathe.

Such was the case against our Pens last night. Never taking their foot off the gas pedal, they piled up a lopsided 82-51 edge in shot attempts (an obscene 63-28 through two periods), as well as a 39-26 advantage in shots on goal according to Natural Stat Trick.

Total domination.

By contrast, our Pens appeared sloppy, disjointed and slow. If not for the sensational goaltending of rookie Joel Blomqvist, the margin of victory could’ve been worse.

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