Canes Make A Memory In Return To Greensboro

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Carolina Hurricanes forward Taylor Hall skipped the team bus and drove the roughly 90 minutes from Raleigh to Greensboro on Thursday.

That was already a departure from his normal game-day routine. On a typical night at Lenovo Center, his commute would probably take him 20 minutes, max.

He was also set to walk into a locker room he'd never been in before. In an ECHL building that actually has a capacity greater than most NHL arenas.

The drive was what it was, and where he'd be getting dressed was hardly a concern in the grand scheme. After talking with his head coach, Rod Brind'Amour, earlier in the week and expressing his desire to play in not just one, but two preseason games, the objective of the evening was to shake off the rust so that, come Saturday afternoon's exhibition finale in Nashville, he'd have his timing back heading into Tuesday's regular season opener against the Florida Panthers.

And for about 35 minutes of play, it looked like shaking off the rust was maybe going to be the lone positive takeaway for him. Falling behind 5-1 to the Nashville Predators, it got bleak early for the team playing host, in a city they'd not played in since 1999.

But, ironically, as he described his longer-than-usual travel, his team took the same approach when it came to the score.

"It's kind of fun to switch things up."

The home bench never quit, despite the deficit, and neither did the persistent crowd of nearly 14,000.

Maybe it was their excitement at witnessing NHL hockey for the first time in almost 30 years, or maybe it was the second-period wave that engulfed all seating sections of the First Horizon Coliseum.

Whatever it was, the result was five unanswered goals for the Canes in the final 37:22, who stormed from behind to pick up a thrilling 6-5 victory.

"It was a lot of fun. I think the crowd was into it all night long," Hall said with appreciation post-game. "Even when we were down, every scoring chance, they made noise. They clearly know hockey."

Supporting their ECHL's Gargoyles to a top-ten attendance last season, fans, both young and old, left a strong impression, showing out for the big club.

“That’s what it’s about. You’re never out until the final horn," Logan Stankoven added. "It was great to see the guys battle. It was an exciting game. Even though it’s only preseason, I think it’s great just to get the juices flowing again, and it was a great turnout from the people in Greensboro.”

Returning to their roots, where they played their first two seasons in North Carolina, it didn't hurt that the Stanley Cup was in the building either.

“It was a nice night. They were loud, they were cheering, and thankfully we gave them something to cheer about," Brind'Amour said post-game. "It didn’t look so good there for a lot of the game, but everyone went home happy, so that’s good.”

Able to reflect on the positives from the evening thanks to Felix Unger Sorum's game-winner with just 2.6 seconds remaining on the clock, the head coach, who played against the Canes in the very same building many years ago, finished by putting it all into perspective, as he's very good at doing.

"I'm glad that we were able to play here," Brind'Amour closed. "Clearly we have people out in Greensboro that support the Canes, right? You get talking about Raleigh, and that's obviously our big fan base, but it's nice to know we have fans elsewhere and nice to get back to a place where it all started."