The Florida Panthers won the 2026-27 NHL season opener at the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0 in overtime. After a scoreless regulation, Gustav Forsling provided the decisive moment for Florida. Carolina had raised its second championship banner to the rafters before the puck dropped, but the Hurricanes were left to close the night with a narrow defeat.
A Scoreless Night in Raleigh
The first period ended 0-0 in a cagey opening period, with both teams unable to find a way through the opposition defence. The game remained finely balanced from the outset, with neither side able to get on the board.
The second period produced no goals either, keeping the score at 0-0 and pushing the decision further back. For the Panthers, that meant that despite the experience of Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart and Matthew Tkachuk, they had so far failed to capitalize on their chances.
The scoreless pattern continued through the third period, and the game remained 0-0 after sixty minutes. The Hurricanes, led by Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Staal, kept the contest alive, while Florida — with Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett and Brady Tkachuk in the lineup — waited for the key moment to arrive.
Forsling Ends the Deadlock
The overtime winner came from Gustav Forsling, who beat Brandon Bussi to give the Florida Panthers a 1-0 victory and net the only goal of the game. The Swedish defenceman, who had already won the Stanley Cup with Florida in 2024 and 2025, stepped up when it mattered most to seal the season opener.
The goal ended a long scoreless stretch through regulation. Brandon Bussi was in net for Carolina, while Florida turned to Jacob Markstrom. Both goaltenders kept their teams in the game deep into the night, but Forsling finally found the opening in overtime.
The decisive play began with a pass from Carter Verhaeghe. Forsling took the puck near the blue line and buried the one-timer past the glove hand of Brandon Bussi, propelling Florida to victory in the first NHL game of the new season.
The Weight of the Opener
The matchup carried added significance, with the two most recent Stanley Cup champions meeting to open the season. Carolina entered as the 2026 titleholder, while Florida had won back-to-back championships in 2024 and 2025. A single win in the season opener is, of course, no new championship — it brought the Panthers nothing more than the two points on offer in this game.
For Florida, the overtime victory was nonetheless an ideal start to the new season, with head coach Paul Maurice able to rely on his defenceman for the decisive goal. Carolina produced a solid effort over three periods but came up short offensively, failing to score and falling in overtime.
The period-by-period breakdown read 0-0, 0-0, 0-0 and 0-1 in overtime from Carolina's perspective. Final score: Carolina Hurricanes 0, Florida Panthers 1 — overtime.
