Crimping in half of the game, Bobrovsky stopped all nine shots he faced.
“I’m just back there,” he said, number 72 of his preseason debut. “Look at the play and feel comfortable in the game situation.”
Sandys Burmanis, who entered the scene with a strong show at training camp last year, was surprised during the transition, but doubled the Panthers’ lead when he shot a backhand 2-0 at 9:48 in the second season.
“It feels good,” Burmanis said. “Maybe the first period was a bit nervous for me, but in the end I think I adjusted more to the game, and I think it helped me score.
Giving video coaches a rep in the preseason, the Panthers took a double-digit lead after a successful offside challenge that denied Bradley Nadeau’s goal.
The Hurricane, which kept the wind out of its sails, got on the board shortly after former Panthers enforcer Gibani Smith, who replaced Bobrovsky, trimmed Florida’s lead 2-1 at 14:40.
Just 3:02 after the Hurricanes got on the board, rookie defensive man Alexander Nixin, keeping an eye on this season, evenly aligned his score when he filled in a long wrist shot to get him off the Panther and make it 2-2.
After Ben Harple was forced to leave the job in the neutral zone, he struck a loose puck, and Brett Charsuke caught the hurricane with a change, flew to the left of the ice, shot Nikita Kupp’s gloves, and lifted Florida to 3-2 at 8:36 in the third season.
His second goal for the preseason, Kolsuke, signed a two-year one-way AHL contract with the Charlotte Checkers in March after a career-high senior season at Colgate University.
“He’s really predictable,” said Burmanis, who played with Charske for Charlotte last season. “Every time you need him, he’s right there. Look, he’ll always be where you need him.”
At 12:27, Justin Rovidas scored for Carolina, scoring 3-3.
After the Hurricanes injected a game penalty late in regulation, the home team made the crowd happy at home when the Panthers power play took overtime, as Stud Nikka lifted a shot from the slot into the string for a 4-3 victory.
“The basics we want to do, they’re getting better,” director Paul Maurice said of how his younger director’s lineup played against the Hurricane.
The Panthers will continue their preseason in a neutral site game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Kia Center in Orlando at 7pm on Tuesday.
