Hurricanes and Panthers open the Stanley Cup race with opening-night clash

The Carolina Hurricanes will open the new season by raising the championship banner and immediately face the Florida Panthers at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, in a game played Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. ET and broadcast on ESPN. The opening-night matchup brings together the two teams that have been at the center of Stanley Cup conversations in recent years.

As the NHL reports, a survey of NHL players put the Panthers and Hurricanes as the two top favorites to win the Cup this season; 15 of 35 players picked Florida as the favorite, while six backed Carolina. The question was asked during the NHL/NHLPA Player Media Tour in Munich and then during the tour in Las Vegas.

The Hurricanes bring back most of the squad that finished last season with a 16-3 playoff record — a result that, since the NHL moved to four best-of-7 series in 1987, has only been surpassed by the 1988 Edmonton Oilers at 16-2. Coach Rod Brind’Amour emphasizes the team is prepared for any style of play and that the opening-night matchup will be an early and important test.

For the Panthers, last season was affected by injuries: captain Aleksander Barkov missed most of the season after surgery to repair the ACL and MCL in his knee, while Matthew Tkachuk missed the first 47 games after surgery for an adductor and sports hernia. The team is now mostly recovered and has added Brady Tkachuk to the roster after a trade with the Ottawa Senators on June 21; Brady has eight seasons with the Senators and has scored at least 30 goals in three of them. The head-to-head history between them has been heated: the Panthers swept the Hurricanes in the 2023 Eastern Conference Final and beat them in five games in the 2025 conference final, while Florida won the Cup in 2024 and 2025.

Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal and coach Brind’Amour have emphasized the rivalry and readiness to adapt their game as needed — an approach expected to answer the physical pressure and intensity the matchup against the Panthers brings. According to the NHL, this clash marks the true start of the strong race for the Cup this season and will reveal much about both teams’ ambitions.