The Florida Panthers had one of their best Opening Night performances in franchise history, shutting out the reigning Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes 1-0 in overtime on Tuesday night. Defenseman Gustav Forsling was the hero, scoring the game’s only goal at 4:55 in the extra period to give his team a valuable two points to begin the season. Between the pipes, Jacob Markström made his return to the Florida crease and was brilliant with 15 saves to record his 26th career shutout. The Panthers continue their season-opening road trip with a visit to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.
Forsling gives the Panthers a huge victory on Opening Night
For 60 minutes, neither the Panthers nor the Hurricanes managed to score a goal, with Markström and Brandon Bussi turning away every shot. Combined, the two teams went 0-for-13 on the power play and had a total of 84 hits. It was a goalie duel for the entirety of the contest, until Forsling found a crack in the Hurricanes' armor and fired home the only goal of the night. Considering how much the Panthers struggled last season, this win was a huge statement that the Cats are back.
Moreover, this was a huge goal and moment for Forsling, one of the few skaters from last year’s club who stayed healthy enough to play at least 59 games. He was minus-5, an indication of how tough the season was for everyone. In the five prior seasons, he was plus-161, so to have his first minus campaign was a big deal. Ultimately, Forsling may never put up the offensive statistics of Norris Trophy contenders like Cale Makar or Evan Bouchard. Still, he is one of the top players Paul Maurice relies on and has the skills to come up big in clutch moments.
Markström gives Panthers a throwback performance
Skeptics wondered whether Markström could live up to the clutch performances the team had known for seven seasons from Sergei Bobrovsky. At 36, it’s not like the Panthers went younger and were hoping to find a netminder like Bussi, a rather unknown player who captured lightning in a bottle and won the Stanley Cup. Instead, Markström brings over 500 games of experience to the dressing room, something he didn’t have last time he was in Florida more than a decade ago.
Despite having his ups and downs, Markström led the NHL in shutouts a few years ago and began his second stint with the team that drafted him by pitching his 26th career shutout. He wasn’t overly busy, turning away only 15 shots, but the Panthers gave the Hurricanes plenty of opportunities to get more chances by awarding them six power plays. Of course, not all of these games will be this easy, but Carolina is a top team that couldn’t generate much offense thanks to the team in front of Markström. On paper, the 2026-27 Panthers may be the most talented team Markström has ever backstopped.
Are the Panthers’ special teams a concern?
It’s only Game 1 of a long regular season, but the Panthers handed out six power plays and failed to generate much of anything—not goals or even many shots—on their seven power-play opportunities. Currently, Maurice has the Tkachuks together on the same top unit, and many will wonder how long that experiment lasts, especially if the Cats don’t get goals on the power play. It’s a small sample size, but against one of the top teams in the NHL, Florida couldn’t get anything going. It will be fascinating to see how they perform for the rest of the road trip and who breaks through to score the team’s first special-teams goal.
Meanwhile, it goes without saying yet again that the Panthers need to clean up their game and stop handing out power-play opportunities like candy. Some of the league's best power plays will eventually make them pay, and Florida won't always be able to rely on its penalty kill to bail it out.
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