Overview
- The NHL season opens with the Florida Panthers visiting the defending-champion Carolina Hurricanes at the Lenovo Center for a 5 p.m. ET face-off on Tuesday, Sept. 29.
- Florida will ice Brady Tkachuk in his Panthers debut with captain Aleksander Barkov active and Jacob Markstrom projected to start while Jonah Gadjovich is the lone reported injury.
- Carolina returns most of its Cup-winning core but will be without Seth Jarvis after offseason shoulder surgery and enters the game with Brandon Bussi penciled in as the primary goaltender following Frederik Andersen’s departure.
- Sportsbooks list Carolina as a narrow favorite around -126 to -128 with the total set at 6.5 goals and SportsLine’s 10,000-simulation model projects roughly seven combined goals and a modest lean to the Over.
- The game will air on ESPN and stream on Fubo and should serve as an early test of Florida’s new-look lineup and both teams’ goaltending depth, making the crease matchups and Jarvis’s absence key things to watch.