Forsling Spoils Banner Night: Panthers Stun Hurricanes 1-0 With 4.3 Seconds Left in OT
RALEIGH, N.C. | Final: Florida 1, Carolina 0 (OT)
The Carolina Hurricanes spent the first half hour of Tuesday night celebrating the 2026 Stanley Cup. The Florida Panthers spent the next 64 minutes and 55.7 seconds making sure that was the only celebration the Lenovo Center crowd would get. Gustav Forsling hammered a one-timer past Brandon Bussi with 4.3 seconds left in overtime, and the two-time former champions spoiled banner night with a 1-0 win in the first game of the 2026-27 NHL season.
It was the kind of game that felt lifted straight out of May: 84 combined hits, 13 power plays, zero power-play goals, and two goaltenders who refused to blink until the final seconds. It was also only the third time in more than 80 years that the two most recent Stanley Cup champions met to open a season, and it played like it.
How It Happened
The banner. Before puck drop, the Hurricanes raised the second championship banner in franchise history to the rafters in front of a sellout crowd, with the Panthers, champions in 2024 and 2025, watching from their bench. Seventeen of the 19 skaters in Carolina's lineup had been on the ice for Game 6 of the Final in June.
A playoff tone from the first shift. The opening period was tight and physical, and Florida smothered the neutral zone so completely that Jacob Markstrom faced only three shots. The season's first fight arrived early, with Nic Deslauriers and Bokondji Imama squaring off. Neither team generated much, and the game settled into the grind both franchises know so well.
Markstrom's biggest stop. The best chance of regulation belonged to Carolina. At 11:29 of the second period, Sebastian Aho broke in alone and tried to beat Markstrom five-hole. The 36-year-old, in his Panthers return after being acquired from New Jersey on June 30, shut the door.
Special teams stalemate. Carolina went 0-for-6 on the power play and Florida went 0-for-7. The Hurricanes put seven shots on goal with the man advantage and could not solve Markstrom. Florida opened the third period on its sixth power play and was held to dump-and-chase hockey by Carolina's aggressive neutral-zone play.
The winner. Carolina controlled much of overtime, and the game appeared headed for a shootout when Carter Verhaeghe carried the puck into the zone with under 10 seconds left. Instead of forcing a shot, he dropped it back to Forsling, who wired a one-timer from just inside the blue line past Bussi's glove side. It was Florida's only shot of overtime, and it was enough.
Standout Performers
Jacob Markstrom, FLA: 15 saves for the 26th shutout of his career, including the breakaway stop on Aho.
Gustav Forsling, FLA: The overtime winner, plus three hits and two blocked shots in a steady defensive night.
Brandon Bussi, CAR: 19 saves. Carolina's Cup-run hero kept the champions in it all night, even if he wanted the last one back.
Sebastian Aho, CAR: Four shots and 10 of 16 faceoffs won, and the game's best scoring chance.
Aleksander Barkov, FLA: Back in an NHL game for the first time since June 2025, the Panthers captain took 20 draws and won half of them in 200-foot minutes.
The Struggles
Carolina's power play needs work. Six opportunities, no goals, and a lot of perimeter touches. For a team returning almost entirely intact, the lack of polish on the man advantage stood out. Coach Rod Brind'Amour's group also committed 15 giveaways.
Florida's offense is still a work in progress. The Panthers managed just 20 shots in 65 minutes and lost the faceoff battle 34-24. The long-awaited Tkachuk brother pairing produced energy, with Brady Tkachuk throwing five hits, but not much offense in its first night together.
Bussi's own verdict. Bussi was hard on himself afterward and called the winner a goal he should have stopped. Brind'Amour was far more forgiving, pointing out that his goaltender was the reason Carolina earned a point at all.
What It Means
For Florida: This is a statement win. The Panthers missed the playoffs last season without Barkov. With him healthy, a new Markstrom-led crease and Brady Tkachuk now in the lineup, they looked like a team that still knows how to win the hardest games in the building. Forsling called it a playoff-style game, and the Panthers have made a habit of winning those.
For Carolina: One point on banner night is nothing to panic about. The Hurricanes won the faceoff battle 34-24, dictated long stretches of play and got strong goaltending. Once Seth Jarvis returns from shoulder surgery and the power play finds its rhythm, the structure that won a Cup is clearly still there.
Up Next
Florida: at San Jose Sharks, Thursday, Oct. 1
Carolina: vs. Washington Capitals, Friday, Oct. 2
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