The Florida Panthers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night in overtime to open the 2026-27 season with a victory. Several players achieved rare feats during the contest, including the overtime hero, Gustav Forsling, who became only the second defenseman to ever score a game-winning goal in a season opener. Meanwhile, Jacob Markström returned to Florida and became only the third goalie to ever record a shutout in the first game of the season.
In addition, the Panthers welcomed back captain Aleksander Barkov, who skated in his first NHL game in 491 days. Although he was pointless in the season opener, the captain had a solid preseason with four points in two games.
There are plenty of other talking points from the first game of the season, but let's take a trip down memory lane to put the rare feats accomplished by the Swedish duo of Forsling and Markström into historical perspective.
Panthers defensemen rarely score game-winners on Opening Night
As mentioned, Forsling achieved one of the rarest feats in Panthers history, scoring the game winner in a season opener as a defenseman. The only other player to achieve this was Brian Campbell, who had a two-goal game on Jan. 19, 2013. Unsurprisingly, he accomplished this against the Hurricanes, who Florida defeated 5-1 to begin the shortened 2013-14 campaign. Once Jonathan Huberdeau opened the scoring, Campbell had back-to-back power-play goals to put the game out of reach before the end of the first period.
Fast forward 13 years later, these two teams battled through a goalless regulation, before Forsling scored the winner with five seconds left. Although he became the second defenseman to ever win a season opener for the Panthers, he is the only one to do so in overtime.
Markström makes history in first game back
Initially drafted by the Panthers in 2008, Markström began his NHL career with the club, before going to play with Vancouver, Calgary, and New Jersey, collecting 25 career shutouts. On Tuesday, he picked up his 26th and became only the third netminder to pitch an Opening Night shutout along with Roberto Luongo (2005) and Jose Theodore (2011).
During Luongo's first stint in Florida, he blanked the Atlanta Thrashers 2-0 on Oct. 5, 2005, the team's first game after the 2024-05 lockout wiped out an entire year of hockey. He made 34 saves in the victory and was the first of four shutouts that year.
Six years later, former Hart Trophy winner Theodore shut out the New York Islanders on Oct. 8, 2011 to help the Panthers to a 2-0 victory. He recorded 27 saves in first-ever game with the club, before finishing the season with three shutouts.
During Markström's first go around in Florida, he didn't recorded any shutouts, earning his first career shutout on Dec. 5, 2017 against the Hurricanes. Meanwhile, his shutout on Tuesday was the first since an Apr. 5, 2026 contest against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
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