In the Hurricanes season opener, 8,000 fans were treated to the franchises best-ever 20 minute stretch of hockey.
Carolina was awesome in the second period, pelting the Lightning for three goals, but something happened on the way to victory. The Canes came out flat to start the third period, and all Carolina could do was salvage a tie.
"That is something we have to learn how to handle," Hurricanes Center Ron Francis said. "I think we played like a team that wasn't accustomed to being up 4-1 after two periods. We got rattled in the third, and that is something that we will have to work on to improve for the next time."
The killer instinct is a learned quality that comes with experience. This team has enough fire power to put teams away, but they will have to learn from Saturday's game.
"It may end up being a good lesson for us this early in the season," Hurricanes Captain Keith Primeau said. "We know it can happen, and it will keep us on our toes next time."
This team is much better than last year's squad, but still not good enough to take anything for granted.
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