Panthers Spoil Carolina Banner Night as NHL Season Opens With Overtime Drama

The 2026-27 NHL season opened Tuesday with five games featuring two overtime finishes, a pair of shutouts and several standout individual performances. Florida spoiled Carolina’s Stanley Cup banner celebration, while Vancouver survived a wild night in Edmonton and Vegas opened with a convincing victory. The league’s new 84-game regular season is now underway, with three more games Wednesday and a larger eight-game slate scheduled for Thursday.

Panthers Spoil Hurricanes’ Celebration

Forsling Wins Defensive Battle in Overtime

Carolina raised its 2026 Stanley Cup championship banner before facing Florida, but the Panthers left Raleigh with a 1-0 overtime victory. Gustav Forsling scored with only 4.3 seconds remaining in overtime, while Jacob Markstrom stopped all 15 shots in his return to Florida.

Boston Notches Win

Boston also recorded a shutout. Jeremy Swayman stopped 24 shots in the Bruins’ 3-0 victory over the Rangers. The game remained scoreless for more than 56 minutes before Fraser Minten, JJ Peterka and Mark Kastelic scored three times in a 75-second span.

NHL Opening Night Results

Bouchard Produces Five-Point Performance

Tuesday’s five games included:

• Florida Panthers 1, Carolina Hurricanes 0 (OT): Forsling scored the game’s only goal and Markstrom recorded a 15-save shutout. Carolina goalie Brandon Bussi made 19 saves.
• Montreal Canadiens 3, Toronto Maple Leafs 2: Josh Anderson and Alexandre Carrier each had a goal and an assist, while Jakub Dobes stopped 26 shots. William Nylander scored both Toronto goals.
• Boston Bruins 3, New York Rangers 0: Swayman earned the shutout and Boston scored all three goals late in the third period.
• Vancouver Canucks 6, Edmonton Oilers 5 (OT): Paul Cotter scored the overtime winner, but Edmonton defenseman Evan Bouchard delivered opening night’s biggest individual performance with three goals and five points.
• Vegas Golden Knights 5, Chicago Blackhawks 2: Jack Eichel scored the game-winning goal and added two assists as Vegas opened the Ryan Craig coaching era with a victory.

NHL Betting Outlook for the Rest of the Week

Several Early-Season Matchups Stand Out

Several other nice matchups are on the schedule for those looking to make some sportsbook wagers. Wednesday features Pittsburgh-Philadelphia, Islanders-Toronto and Los Angeles-Colorado. The schedule becomes much busier Thursday, with several games offering intriguing early betting markets. DraftKings and FanDuel available lines include New Jersey -148 against Philadelphia, with the Flyers +124 and the total at 5.5. Tampa Bay is -142 at the Rangers, with New York +120 and another 5.5-goal total.

Thursday Games

Thursday also brings an immediate rematch of Tuesday’s highest-scoring game. Edmonton visits Vancouver after the Canucks’ 6-5 overtime victory, with the Oilers around -200 and Vancouver +167 in a recent market snapshot. The total is 6.5. Other Thursday games include Minnesota-Nashville, Buffalo-Columbus, Seattle-Calgary, Chicago-Utah and Florida-San Jose. Recent market prices have Minnesota around -145 at Nashville, Utah -190 against Chicago and Florida -136 at San Jose.

Looking Ahead

The opening night results already provided reminders about early-season volatility. Carolina and Edmonton entered their openers with significant expectations but both lost in overtime, while Montreal ended Toronto’s 10-game home-opening winning streak. With most teams still playing their first or second games, sportsbook prices and early-season perceptions could move quickly over the remainder of opening week.