Panthers crash Carolina's banner night with a new top line

Carolina raises a Stanley Cup banner tonight, and the cats are the guests. Good. I'd rather this team open against the champs in their own barn than ease into October against somebody soft. After a 40-38-4 year, the Panthers need a statement early, and this is the one date that gives them one.

Here's my take: Florida's top line is built to win this game, and the question is whether Jacob Markstrom gives them a chance to find out.

The lineup card

Expected lines, with nothing confirmed by the team yet:

• Brady Tkachuk – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
• Carter Verhaeghe – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
• Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Sandis Vilmanis
• Bokondji Imama – Lars Eller – Garnet Hathaway

On the back end, it's Gustav Forsling with Aaron Ekblad, Niko Mikkola with Seth Jones, and Dmitry Kulikov with Radko Gudas. Uvis Balinskis is the expected scratch.

That top line is the reason to watch. Brady Tkachuk shook off a minor preseason knock and is expected to play his first game as a Panther, on Barkov's left, with Reinhart on the other side. Put Matthew Tkachuk with Bennett on the second line and the cats can throw two nasty lines at anybody.

In net

Markstrom is the expected starter for Florida, with Akira Schmid as the backup. Sergei Bobrovsky isn't in the picture anymore, and that's a whole new world in the Florida crease.

Carolina is expected to go with Brandon Bussi. That one stings a little. The Canes claimed him off waivers from Florida, and all he did was go 31-6-2 last season.

Who's out

Brad Marchand had surgery in August and is expected to miss about the first month. Jonah Gadjovich also had surgery and is out indefinitely.

For Carolina, Seth Jarvis is out after June shoulder surgery. He's practicing in a no-contact jersey, but late October is the earliest anyone expects him back.

The opponent

The Canes went 53-22-7 last season and 37-12-2 at home. They beat Vegas in six for their second Cup, and 20 of the 22 players from that run are back. Frederik Andersen left for Edmonton, which is why Bussi is the guy now.

Their forecheck is the same as always. They come in waves and they don't stop.

Head to head

Florida owns this rivalry when it counts. The cats beat Carolina in the Eastern Conference Final in 2023 and again in 2025.

The regular season is a different story. The Panthers' last trip to Raleigh ended 9-1, and I'm not going to pretend that didn't happen.

The one matchup

Forsling and Ekblad against Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho and Eric Robinson. Carolina's plan is to pin you on the wall and grind. If Forsling wins the first puck back and moves it to Barkov, the Canes spend the night chasing. If he doesn't, it's a long ceremony and a longer game.

Barkov said the team knows what that pregame feels like. "We want to have a good start," he said. "For us, we just want to play our game right from the start."

Pabs' read

The Canes will be flying for 10 minutes on banner adrenaline. Survive that, and the cats have the better top six tonight. Markstrom has to steal one early, and I think he does. Panthers 4, Hurricanes 3. Dale.

How to watch

Puck drop is 5 p.m. ET at Lenovo Center in Raleigh. It's on ESPN, with streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. Radio is WQAM. The matchup card, stats and live score are on the game page.