Panthers spoil Hurricanes’ banner-raising party with late overtime victory
They rolled the Stanley Cup out, raised the Stanley Cup banner and thousands of Carolina Hurricanes fans thundered their approval and appreciation Tuesday at Lenovo Center.
And then they played hockey.
The Canes and the Florida Panthers went at it in a season opener that had little flow, little open ice, a lot of fumbled pucks, bad penalties and even worse power plays before Florida won it in overtime, 1-0.
With 4.3 seconds left on the clock.
On a last-gasp slapshot by Panthers defenseman Gus Forsling from 55 feet that somehow found its way past Canes goalie Brandon Bussi, who had played so well for so long.
It all happened so quickly that everyone in the building seemed surprised.
“I felt pretty good and then I gave up a pretty bad goal,” Bussi said in a somber Canes locker room. “It might have hit our D-man, it took a weird bounce, but it was far enough out I should have kind of found it.
“For some reason I didn’t get a good visual on it and it’s four seconds left and we’re trying to get to a shootout. I think by my standards, it’s a bad goal.”
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Bussi, who had 19 saves in the game, was the reason his team came away with a point in the opener. The Canes could have lost in regulation had Bussi not made a good stop on a late Niko Mikkola shot.
“He was good when he needed to be, but a tough one at the end,” Brind’Amour said.
Jacob Markstrom, with 15 saves, was the winner as the former Panthers goalie returned to the Florida net for the first time since December 2013.
The Hurricanes did kill off all seven Florida power plays and nearly 12 minutes of power-play time. With winger Seth Jarvis sidelined, Logan Stankoven filled in on a penalty-kill unit and in Jarvis’ normal spot and was effective.
The flip side: the Canes had six power plays, getting a few decent chances but not enough. They had an extended 5-on-3 advantage and had two shots on it but could not convert.
“The way the game looked, it wasn’t a very good game to watch,” Brind’Amour said. “But they made it hard on us. And when we did have opportunities, we beat it up.
“Not used to that kind of pressure. We just haven’t seen it in practice and a game in preseason is half the pace of that. Our top guys were fumbling it or their passes weren’t connecting. The little plays that they normally make, they weren’t making them. Or seeing them.”
The first period was mostly a slumber of hockey parrying, stick battles, and dumping and chasing – until the Canes’ Nicolas Deslauriers decided to change the mood.
After putting a big hit on Florida’s Lars Eller, Deslauriers squared off with Bokondji Imama, dropped the gloves and had at it. Both got in some solid blows before going down, and Deslauriers was given a big ovation from the crowd, which clearly enjoyed seeing that.
“He did his job,” Brind’Amour said.
For the Hurricanes, it was a night of celebration and anticipation as a new season began. For the Florida Panthers, it was the start of what they hope will lead to another banner-raising of their own.
The Canes won the Stanley Cup last season. The Panthers won the Stanley Cup in 2024 and 2025 before missing the playoffs last season. The NHL, always with an eye on ratings, saw fit to put the two on the ice together on ESPN to start the 2026-27 season.
Brind’Amour was fine with the made-for-TV matchup.
“It’s exactly what you want,” Brind’Amour said before the game. “This is going to shake you out of whatever thoughts you might have had coming into this one. It’s a great team, we know, and they’re going to be hungry. They’ve had five months off, which they haven’t had in a long time.”
The Canes had just three shots on goal in the opening period and had the first two penalties of the season. They then had five power plays in the second – including the 5-on-3 – but mishandled the puck too much, passed on some shooting looks or picked up penalties to negate them.
Carolina’s Sebastian Aho did have a partial breakaway later in the second but Jacob Markstrom stopped him. Later, Eetu Luostarinen had the same for Florida, but Bussi made the stop.
The Canes’ next game will be their first against a Metro Division opponent. The Washington Capitals, with Alex Ovechkin back for another season, come into the Lenovo Center on Friday.
“I think we’re going to see every team’s best,” Bussi said. “We earned that right. So we’ve got to get used to that.
This story was originally published September 29, 2026 at 9:16 PM with the headline "Panthers spoil Hurricanes’ banner-raising party with late overtime victory."
