Forsling’s OT Strike Spoils Hurricanes’ Banner Night as Panthers Win 1-0 NHL Opener

Gustav Forsling hammered a one-timer past Brandon Bussi with 4.3 seconds left in overtime on Tuesday night, giving the Florida Panthers a 1-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL season opener — just minutes after Carolina raised its Stanley Cup championship banner at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, according to Reuters.

The clash was only the third time in more than 80 years that the league’s two most recent Stanley Cup champions opened a season against each other, Reuters reported. Florida won the Cup in 2024 and 2025 before Carolina broke through in June.

The Panthers waited through Carolina’s 15-minute banner-raising ceremony on the visitors’ bench, and then goaltenders dominated. Jacob Markstrom, making his first Panthers appearance since the 2013-14 season, stopped all 15 shots for a shutout, while Bussi made 19 saves in a losing cause, according to the AP. The teams combined to go 0-for-13 on the power play.

Forsling, a defenseman who scored only twice in 80 games last season, took a pass from Carter Verhaeghe and ended the scoreless deadlock. “That felt like a playoff game to me. It was awesome, really fun,” he said.

The result was Florida’s third straight season-opening win. Captain Aleksander Barkov returned to the lineup after missing all of last season with a knee injury, and Brady Tkachuk made his Panthers debut alongside his brother Matthew, per the team’s postgame report.

Sources

• Reuters: Panthers edge Hurricanes in opener on Gustav Forsling’s late OT goal
• AP/TSN: In battle of Stanley Cup winners, Panthers announce return in OT win against Hurricanes