Mack Guzda was the Florida Panthers best performer in a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Cats’ opening game at the 2023 Southeast Rookie Showcase in Estero.
Guzda went the distance and stopped 27 of 31 shots to keep his outplayed team from getting blown out.
A too-many men penalty at 15:46 followed by a cross-checking call on Evan Nause 23 seconds later gave the Hurricanes a 5-on-3 that they quickly took advantage of when Ryan Suzuki passed down low to Vasily Ponomarev. Guzda stopped Ponomarev, but Domenick Fensore was there to convert the rebound.
The Hurricanes went up by two 5:46 into the middle frame. After Marek Alscher was pressured into a turnover, Jack Beck found Noel Gunler wide-open in the slot and he put the puck through Guzda.
Carolina’s forechecking paid off again and they grew the lead to three at the 12:13 mark. Markus Vidicek kept Nause from clearing the puck and it was tracked down by Gabriel Klassen in the right circle. Klassen centered to Justin Robidas, who moved in on net and beat Guzda with a backhand.
Kai Schwindt finally got the Panthers on the board at 16:07 when he took a short dish from Liam Arnsby along the right boards after an offensive zone faceoff and drilled a shot over the blocker of Jakub Vondras, who had just come on in relief of starter Yaniv Perets.
Kai gets the Cats on the board!
— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) September 16, 2023
The deficit is down to 3-1 after 40 minutes. pic.twitter.com/t6xu3axjxN
Blake Murray would complete the scoring 3:03 into the third with a power-play goal with Calle Sjalin off for high-sticking. Working from the right point, Suzuki crossed to Ponomarev and he sent the puck back to the right to Murray. While Guzda made a fine save on the initial shot, Murray was able to pot his own rebound.
After regulation the teams played a five-round shootout that saw Suzuki get the only goal in the fourth round. Mackie Samoskevich, Ryan McAllister, Gracyn Sawchyn, Sandis Vilmanis and Justin Sourdif could not solve Vondras.
A rather disappointing effort as the Panthers group looked disjointed and didn’t generate much offensively. They get right back at it today when they face the Nashville Predators at 6 p.m. The Preds prospects also took an “L” yesterday, falling 4-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.