Forsling's late OT bomb spoils Carolina's banner night, Panthers win 1-0

Panthers 1, Hurricanes 0 (OT)

Carolina raised its banner, and Florida made the champs sit through 64 minutes and 55 seconds of misery before the first two points of the season went home to Sunrise.

How it went

This was a September game with April manners. Nobody scored for 60 minutes, and thirteen power plays came and went without a goal. Carolina went 0-for-6, and Florida went 0-for-7, which is a number I'll be yelling about for the rest of the week.

Brandon Bussi was the reason it stayed scoreless for so long. He stopped 19 of 20, including an Eetu Luostarinen breakaway that should have been the opener.

Then, with 4.3 seconds left in overtime, Carter Verhaeghe carried it in and dropped it back to Gustav Forsling, who one-timed it from just inside the blue line, glove side. Game.

Three things from Raleigh:

1. Markstrom looked like he never left. Jacob Markstrom stopped all 15 shots in his first game for Florida since 2013-14. Seven of those came on Carolina power plays. It was a low-volume night with high-danger moments, and the veteran never looked rattled.

2. The captain is back. Aleksander Barkov played 20:32 in his first NHL game in 15 months. He had one shot and didn't force anything, which is exactly what a careful first night back should look like. The Selke positioning was there, and the legs will follow.

3. Brady brought the bruises. Brady Tkachuk's Panthers debut was 16:33, five hits, a goalie interference minor and a plus-1. He was on the ice for the winner, and Sam Bennett matched the tone with seven hits of his own. Two Tkachuks on one bench is going to be an exhausting assignment for everybody in the Atlantic.

Ferda play of the night:

Boko Imama, in his Panthers debut, dropped the gloves with Nicolas Deslauriers at 18:01 of the first. He played 6:03 all night, and he spent it making sure the Canes knew the banner didn't come with a free pass. Nobody on that bench had a smaller role, and nobody set the tone faster, which is exactly the job description.

What they said

Forsling summed up the whole evening: "Playoff style hockey. That felt like a playoff game to me."

Maurice on Markstrom: "He handled it like a veteran."

Maurice on Forsling's two-way night: "He played an incredible game, a strong game."

Pabs' read

I've watched this team win ugly for more than thirty years, long before winning ugly came with rings. This one felt familiar, because the penalty kill carried the night, the goalie was calm, and a defenseman who scored two goals in 80 games last season won it with a bomb.

Forsling also played 22:40 and blocked two shots, which is the part of his game that never makes the highlight package.

The power play is the grade I'm holding back, because seven chances is too many to waste and the cats won't get a perfect Markstrom every night. Fix that, and the banner in Raleigh starts to look borrowed.

Grade for the night: B-plus, with the minus all on the power play. Dale.

Next game

Florida heads west to San Jose on Thursday, Oct. 1, with puck drop at 10 p.m. ET. Then it's Anaheim on Sunday.