Recap: Canes Dealt Last-Minute Loss On Opening Night

RALEIGH, N.C. - Gustav Forsling's game-winner with 4.3 seconds left in overtime was the scoreboard separator that lifted the Florida Panthers over the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0 in the season opener on Tuesday.

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Following a banner raising 20 years in the making, the defending champion Canes got to work against the team that held the title twice before them. A cagey first frame featured a few fireworks in the form of Nicolas Deslauriers and Bokondji Imama dropping the gloves for a heavyweight scrap before the break, but neither side found much in the way of offensive opportunities.

Major penalties gave way to nine two-minute minors in the second period, resulting in a stop-and-start stalemate that flowed into the final frame as well. When chances popped up as the two sides pushed for a deciding goal, both netminders had the answers between the pipes.

Forsling's dagger came after the first 4:55 of overtime looked much like the first 60 of regulation. Teed up for a long-range one-timer off the rush, the Swede leaned into a shot that eluded Brandon Bussi's blocker. Carolina's backstop still enjoyed a strong 19-save showing on the night, while Jacob Markstrom turned aside 15 of 15 at the other end.

Stats & Standouts

• Tonight’s standing-room-only crowd of 19,250 represents the largest attendance for a regular-season home game at Lenovo Center. Only two regular-season home games in franchise history have drawn more fans: the team’s Stadium Series outdoor game against the Washington Capitals at Carter-Finley Stadium on Feb. 18, 2023 (56,961) and a game at the Greensboro Coliseum against the New York Rangers on Nov. 21, 1997 (19,358).
• Tuesday's clash marked just the third time in the NHL’s modern era (since 1943-44) when each of the two previous Stanley Cup champions will play a mutual season-opening game. The two prior instances were between the Blues and Capitals (Oct. 2, 2019) as well as the Black Hawks and Maple Leafs (Oct. 10, 1962).

They Said It...

Rod Brind’Amour reflecting on the contest…

“There wasn’t a lot of room, obviously. That had a lot to do with how the game looked - it wasn’t a very good game to watch. They made it hard on us, and then when we did have the opportunities, we beat it up. We were not used to that kind of pressure. You just haven’t seen it in practice or even in preseason. It’s half the pace of that. You can just see our top guys were fumbling it or throwing it (away). Passes weren’t connecting. Just a lot of rust there, for sure.”

Jordan Staal giving his perspective…

“It was obviously a tight game. There wasn’t much going on beyond the power plays and penalty kills. I thought the penalty kills were good, and I thought the power play could have executed better. It was just kind of a muckfest at five-on-five. Three-on-three is what it is. We had some of our chances, and they found a way to get the last one.”

Sebastian Aho after a night where the power plays combined to go 0-for-13…

“It was a little bit of that (lack of) sharpness. It was the first game. If you look at the last couple of years, these two teams have been top of the leaderboard, and there’s a reason for that. There was kind of a similar style the whole game. Obviously, their game plan is not too far from ours, and clearly, it works. It’s tough to find room out there. When you do, you’ve got to execute, and we didn’t do that today.”

Brandon Bussi reflecting on his night and the goal…

“I felt pretty good tonight. It just stings right now a little bit. I think we deserved a little better. It probably should’ve got to a shootout, but it didn’t. We’ll take the point, and we’ll move forward… I felt pretty good, and I gave up a pretty bad goal. It might’ve hit our d-man or whatever, it took a pretty weird bounce. But it was far enough out that I should’ve had it. For some reason I didn’t get a good visual on it. There’s four seconds left. I’m just trying to get to a shootout. By my standards, it’s a bad goal.”

What's Next?

The Canes are next scheduled to practice on Thursday. They'll return to game action on Friday when they host the Washington Capitals.

Next Game: Friday, October 2 | vs. Washington | 7:00 p.m. ET | Hurricanes Hockey Network