The perfect preseason was not to be for the Carolina Hurricanes, whose group of fringe roster players fell behind 3-0 in the first period and failed to battle all the way back in a 4-2 loss against the Buffalo Sabres.
Rod Brind’Amour and co. went into Tuesday’s tilt with the plan of rolling with a lineup comprised of players on the edge of making the team, so Carolina’s regulars had the night off against an opening-night-style Sabres team.
With that in mind, the first period played out exactly how you would expect.
Buffalo capitalized on a long two-on-one opportunity at the seven-minute mark.