Carolina falters late against Buffalo

Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network
Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Carolina Hurricanes hit the road to play their second NHL preseason game and ended up losing 5-2 to the Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center on Thursday.

The Hurricanes gave up three unanswered goals during the final period of play to suffer their second consecutive loss in as many nights.

Forwards Zach Boychuk and Chris Terry tallied both Carolina goals while goaltender Anton Khodobin got his first start donning a Hurricanes jersey, making 24 stops in the losing effort.

After peppering Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller with 19 shots during the first period, the Hurricanes led 1-0 on Boychuk’s goal and got off to a fast start before fading later in the game.

“I thought we did a good job at the start of the game about throwin’ pucks at the net, drivin’ the net and gettin’ second and third chances,” Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller said.

“Got away from it later on as the game went on, but early on we were pleased with the set that we played.”

Both teams traded goals before the Sabres evened it up 2-2 heading into the third period.

As Muller and his staff continued to evaluate all 35 players remaining on the team’s training camp roster, a different lineup faced off against the Sabres than the one the night before that came up short in a 5-4 loss to Columbus.

However, the result was similar and showed that the proper mix of players that will eventually make the team’s opening-day roster will be found somewhere in the middle.

The message from Muller continued to be a simple and clear one – in order for Carolina to win games, every player must put in a full game’s worth of effort and stick to the game plan.

“Day by day we’re just tryin’ to get better and work on our system,” Muller said.

“When we do it well, we get success. The focus for us is to be mentally stronger and put 60 minutes together, rather than half a game.”