Hurricanes, Panthers jump into Cup chase ‘full bore’ with Opening Night showdown

RALEIGH, N.C. -- What better way to open the season?

After raising their Stanley Cup championship banner, the Carolina Hurricanes will face the Florida Panthers at Lenovo Center on Tuesday (5 p.m. ET; ESPN).

“If you’re still in la-la land or in awe about the moment that just happened,” Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook said, “you’ll get hit pretty quick, and you’ll be right into it, for sure.”

This is a matchup of the last two teams to win the Cup. According to an NHL.com poll of NHL players, they’re the top two Cup contenders this season too, and the Panthers are favored to win it again.

Fifteen out of 35 players picked Florida to win the Cup at the NHL/NHLPA European Player Media Tour in Munich in August and the NHL/NHLPA North American Player Media Tour in Las Vegas earlier this month. Six picked Carolina. No other team received more than two votes.

“The NHL knows what it’s doing,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. “Obviously two teams that have been good for a long time and have created a little rivalry, and it’s going to be jumping full bore into the pool instead of dipping your toes, for sure.”

The Hurricanes return much of the same team that went 16-3 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. Since the NHL went to four best-of-7 series in 1987, only the 1988 Edmonton Oilers (16-2) have had a better postseason record.

Carolina didn’t have to play Florida, though.

The Panthers swept the Hurricanes in the 2023 Eastern Conference Final and defeated them in five games in the 2025 conference final, and they won the Cup in 2024 and 2025. They failed to qualify for the playoffs last season largely due to injuries.

Most notably, Aleksander Barkov, their captain and No. 1 center, missed the season after having surgery to repair the ACL and MCL in his right knee in training camp. Matthew Tkachuk, a top forward and emotional leader, missed the first 47 games after having surgery to repair a torn adductor and sports hernia in the offseason.

Now they’re mostly healthy and rested, and they acquired Matthew’s brother, Brady, in a trade with the Ottawa Senators on June 21.

“They were already good, and now they got that much better,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It’s great. You always want to test yourselves early and often, and that’s what we get.”

Brady spent eight seasons with Ottawa, the past five as captain, and the forward has scored 30 or more goals three times. He and Matthew helped Team USA win gold at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics.

“Obviously, they know each other,” laughed Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin, who played with them for Team USA. “They kind of feed off each other and drag other people into the game, and so, from a teammate perspective, they were great to have.

“From a competing against them perspective, it’s going to be hard. I mean, they’re great players individually, but then you put them together, and they both work extremely hard. They’re both really smart players and play the game the hard way.”

The Tkachuk brothers have a history of making opening statements.

In the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025, the United States walked into Bell Centre in Montreal to face Canada, which had won the previous three best-on-best tournaments. Matthew fought forward Brandon Hagel two seconds into the game. Brady fought forward Sam Bennett, now his Florida teammate, one second later. The U.S. went on to win 3-1.

Brady tried something similar to open the playoffs last season, dropping the gloves three seconds into Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round. But that was Ottawa against Carolina, and Staal took him on and took him down. Carolina went on to win 2-0.

The Hurricanes ended up sweeping the Senators, and Tkachuk had no points in the series. The fight set the tone for Carolina’s playoff run and was part of Staal’s resume when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs’ most valuable player.

Staal is not afraid of Brady or what he brings to Florida.

“No,” Staal said. “He’s a physical player that demands that. He plays hard, and it’s a player that makes it hard on you every night. We’re a team that wants to make it hard on them as well, and we’re going to continue to try to do that.”

Brind’Amour said the Hurricanes are ready if the Tkachuks or the Panthers want to throw their weight around.

“This team can play any way, and we have been (able to) for years,” Brind’Amour said. “I feel real good about whatever the game is, wherever the game is. We can pretty much adapt to whatever.”

Let’s go.

“I mean, they’re a great team, play a style very similar to ours,” Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky said. “We’ve had some great battles with them over the years.

“I think last year’s Cup, it’s ours until puck drop (Tuesday), and then it’s up for grabs, and we’re one of 32 teams competing to be one of the 16 teams that gets to compete to win it next year. That race starts (now).”

NHL.com senior director of editorial Shawn P. Roarke contributed