RALEIGH, N.C. -- Gustav Forsling hammered a shot past Brandon Bussi with 4.3 seconds left in overtime to lift the Florida Panthers past the reigning Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes 1-0 in Tuesday's season opener for both teams.
On a night when the last three champions were on display, the defenses and goaltenders had the edge. And it was a blueliner who provided the winning play to end a matchup of Eastern Conference elite.
The Panthers had their final chance with the game seemingly headed to a shootout as Carter Verhaeghe brought the puck into the zone with under 10 seconds left. But Verhaeghe sent the puck back toward Forsling, who fired a one-timer from near the blue line that zipped past Bussi's glove side to end it.
"Playoff-style hockey," Forsling said of the opener. "That felt like a playoff game to me. It was awesome. Really fun."
That spoiled the end of a three-month celebration for the Hurricanes since beating Vegas in June to cap a 16-3 march to the franchise's second Cup. The final piece was the players gathering at the blue line and tapping their sticks as a championship banner rose to the rafters.
"It was great, and that to me is more so for the fans. They didn't get to see us celebrate it on home ice, so it was nice to do a little victory lap," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "I thought that was cool. They need to enjoy that stuff. They're a big part of the success we've had over the years. I thought that was cool."
And that moment came against the Panthers, who reached the Stanley Cup Final for three straight years and won it all in 2024 and 2025. They had twice eliminated the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final in their run, though injuries derailed last year.
Getting captain Aleksander Barkov back from that lengthy injury list was one of several reasons to expect the Panthers to jump right back into contention, along with Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk welcoming brother Brady Tkachuk as an offseason addition. There was also the change by bringing in Jacob Markstrom to take over the crease anchored by Sergei Bobrovsky during those title runs.
"I can make a lot more mistakes on the bench now that he's in the lineup," Florida coach Paul Maurice said, referring to his captain.
And for much of this one, it was up to Markstrom and Bussi to hold up in net, including against multiple one-on-one quality chances and a combined 13 power plays in regulation.
Markstrom finished with 15 saves while Bussi, who posted a shutout in Carolina's Cup-clinching win against Vegas, made 19 saves before giving up the last blast.
"You could just see that our top guys were just fumbling it or passes weren't connecting," Brind'Amour said. "A lot of rust there for sure."
The Tkachuk brothers did not skate on the same regular line in the opener. Brady played on the top line with Barkov and Sam Reinhart. Matthew was on the second line, with Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.