RALEIGH, N.C. _ The question was posed to Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour a few days before the season opener: would he have a good gauge on his team after the first three games?
It would be the Montreal Canadiens in the opener, with goalie Carey Price in net. Then a trip to Washington to face the Caps in their home opener, with all the emotion and baggage from last year's playoff series. Finally, back home against Tampa Bay, the Presidents' Trophy winner last season.
"Where are we at after three games? I think we'll have a pretty good idea," Brind'Amour said last week. "But I think it's going to take some time with this team to figure that out, what we're all about."
The three games have come and gone and the Canes are 3-0, rallying from behind each game, making "resiliency" the operative word. The Canes followed up a shootout win over the Canadiens with overtime victories over the Caps and Lightning, beating Tampa Bay 4-3 on Sunday at PNC Arena on Jaccob Slavin's goal.
What are the Canes all about? Still hard to say. Remember, they started last season 4-0-1, then went 2-7-1 in their next 10. It's early. As Brind'Amour said, the season is an 82-game grind.
But there have been some early snapshots:
