Canes Prospects Pull Off Overtime Victory Over Nashville

RALEIGH, NC. – Forward Blake Murray emerged as a late hero for the Carolina Hurricanes prospects on Sunday, netting the deciding goal in a 5-4 victory over the Nashville Predators.

Three Things

1) It’s Not Over Until It’s Over

The Canes had control of the contest throughout, striking first and losing their lead for only a minute in the second period.

Ahead 3-2 in the late stages of the third, Blake Murray put a backhand effort into an empty net, seemingly closing out what looked like it would become a 4-2 victory. However, Nashville struck twice with their goaltender pulled in the final 75 seconds, forcing overtime.

In the extra frame the 2019 sixth round pick worked his way through the slot, taking a feed from a patient Tuukka Tieksola before putting it over the blocker of Tomas Vomacka.

2) Invitees Cleaning Up The Scraps

16 of the 23 players on Carolina’s roster for the event are either draft selections of the team or skaters under contract with the Chicago Wolves (AHL). However, it was a handful of tournament invitees who made a name for themselves in the victory – notably Jackson Berezowski and Sam McGinley.

Berezowski, who had 46 goals last season for Everett of the Western Hockey League, claimed the lone goal of the first period by putting back a second chance effort.

Then, in the second, McGinley jumped up from his defensive post on a rush to deposit a rebound of his own.

3) Rees Continuing To Make His Presence Felt

During Friday’s Showcase-opening game against Florida, Jamieson Rees was in the middle of everything. Throwing hits, taking the body and mixing it up between whistles, today was more of the same for the team’s 2019 second round pick.

In the first period of today’s game he dropped the gloves, showing no fear in taking on Nashville’s Jachym Kondelik.

Why is this of note?

Rees is listed on the organization’s roster at 5-foot-10, 182 lbs. Kondelik comes in at 6-foot-7, 232 lbs.

It wasn’t just his aggression that was the reason for today’s attention though, he also looked like one of the more complete players on the ice. Making smart plays and responsible defensively, he continues to be a player to keep an eye on over the next week leading into the big club’s training camp.

They Said It

Chicago Wolves Head Coach Brock Sheahan following the victory:

“I hope for people that watch Carolina they saw more of how Carolina plays. I thought our forecheck was really aggressive, I thought our guys were skating. Our tempo and pace were really high. That’s what we talked about.”

Sheahan on what was the difference in today’s outing:

“For everybody, it’s getting comfortable. Every player, to a man, was better. I thought they were more comfortable and they were playing to their strengths.”

Sheahan offering thoughts on Rees and his play:

“I think it was great to see him play that way. I thought he had a really big bounce back game. I thought he was effective the entire time. We’d like to keep him out of the box, but it was good to see him play at that level of intensity.”

Bonus Notes

• 2021 third round draft pick Patrik Hamrla played all 60 minutes for Carolina today, earning the victory in net.
• Forward Noel Gunler scored in the second period, the first player of the group to have multiple goals in the tournament. He scored the only marker in Friday’s 6-1 loss to Florida.
• The Canes prospects will close out their Showcase tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. at PNC Arena. Admission is free. All games are also available to stream live on Hurricanes.com. To learn more about attending the event, click here.

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