RALEIGH, N.C. - Connor Brickley scored his first NHL goal, Alexsander Barkov gave Florida a two-goal lead 50 seconds later in the third period and the Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Nick Bjugstad opened the scoring in the first period, former Hurricanes forward Jussi Jokinen added an empty-net goal with 1:47 left, and Al Montoya made 25 saves to help Florida improve to 2-1-0.
Jaromir Jagr assisted on Barkov's goal for his 1,809th career point.
Elias Lindholm scored for Carolina in the second period, and Eddie Lack made 22 saves in his first start of the season. The Hurricanes dropped to 0-3-0.
Bjugstad, who led Florida with 24 goals last season, scored his second of the season by beating Lack high to the glove side at 2:01 of the first period.
Carolina's Lindholm finally woke up the sleepy building midway through the second, taking Brad Malone's pass just inside the circle and scooping the puck over Montoya's right shoulder.
Brickley scored with 7:42 left in the third, and Barkov followed with help from Jagr.
NOTES: The Hurricanes will play Friday night at Detroit, which ruined Carolina's home opener 4-3 on Saturday night. It's the opener of a seven-game trip that Carolina takes every October to avoid the traffic congestion of the N.C. State Fair next door. ... Florida hosts Buffalo on Thursday night. ... C Riley Nash (shoulder) sat out for Carolina LW Shawn Thornton, D Steven Kampfer and D Dylan Olsen were healthy scratches for Florida. ... The attendance of 10,901 was Carolina's lowest since a crowd of 9,781 on Jan. 8 against Buffalo. ... The Panthers and Hurricanes will meet three times this season, with the next matchup in Raleigh on Dec. 18 before they meet in the season finale for both April 9 at Florida. ... Jokinen played all or part of five seasons from 2008-13 for Carolina.
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