ESPN puts Panthers-Canes opener at 5 p.m. with Wischusen, Johnson and Hextall
The network announced its 2026-27 NHL booth assignments Tuesday, including a 100-game exclusive slate and the Sept. 29 tripleheader.
ESPN announced its 2026-27 NHL commentator lineup on Tuesday, and the first game on the slate is the one South Florida cares about. The Panthers open the season in Raleigh on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN, with Bob Wischusen, Erik Johnson and Leah Hextall on the call, per the network's release.
The Hurricanes raise their Stanley Cup banner before puck drop.
Sean McDonough, Ray Ferraro and Emily Kaplan get Rangers-Bruins at 8, and Mike Monaco, Kevin Weekes and Stormy Buonantony close the tripleheader with Blackhawks-Golden Knights at 10:30. ESPN says it holds 100 exclusive games this season across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN+ and Disney+.
Mark Messier, P.K. Subban, T.J. Oshie, Cassie Campbell-Pascall and A.J. Mleczko round out the analyst group, with Dave Jackson as rules analyst.
Ferda read: a 5 p.m. start on a Tuesday is a broadcast decision, not a hockey one. Fine by us. The Panthers get to stand on the blue line and watch the champs raise a banner, then spend 60 minutes making sure the party ends there.
