RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes opened the 2026-27 campaign Tuesday night with a home game inside Lenovo Center against the Florida Panthers. 

The night started with the raising of the 2026 championship banner and ended with a heartbreaking, 1-0, loss in overtime. Gustav Forsling netted the winner with 4.3 seconds left in OT. 

Leading up to the winner, the three periods of regulation were littered with penalties. The two teams combined for 13 power-play chances, but neither team could capitalize, resulting in a 100% penalty kill rate to start the year for both teams. The number of penalties and stoppages also resulted in some sloppy play and lack of offensive flow. 

“I think just kind of every time we kind of get in that groove and start getting rolling lines, you know there’s another power play and stuff. But you know, there are some legit calls out there. So it was it was back and forth too. So it was kind of just stuff to get a good flow,” captain Jordan Staal said.

Brandon Bussi earned the start for Carolina in this first game. The goaltender put together a solid outing, racking up 19 saves. The only blemish coming from that late overtime goal. 

“I don’t know if I hit our D-man or whatever. 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, you know, trying to get to a shootout. So I think on my standards, it’s a bad goal,” Bussi said. 

The Hurricanes will be back inside Lenovo Center Friday night vs. the Washington Capitals. Puck drop set for 7 p.m. 

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