Gustav Forsling scored with five seconds left in overtime as the Florida Panthers opened the season with a 1-0 win over the reigning Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday in Raleigh, N.C.
Forsling’s goal marked the only overtime shot for the Panthers. Florida goalie Jacob Markstrom stopped 15 shots, including one in the extra session.
After Carolina raised its Stanley Cup championship banner in a pregame ceremony, the teams traded missed scoring chances throughout a scoreless regulation. The Panthers finished 0-for-7 on the power play, and the Hurricanes went 0-for-6.
Carolina goalie Brandon Bussi, who started the final three games of the Stanley Cup Final, drew the starting assignment and made 19 saves.
Canucks 6, Oilers 5 (OT)
Paul Cotter’s second goal of the game was the overtime winner that gave visiting Vancouver a wild victory over Edmonton.
Max Sasson also scored in a two-point game, while Marco Rossi, Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Elias Pettersson added singles for the Canucks, who finished last in the league standings last season. Filip Hronek recorded a pair of assists, and goalie Kevin Lankinen made 32 saves.
Evan Bouchard scored three times in a five-point performance while Vasily Podkolzin tallied twice for the Oilers. Goalie Tristan Jarry stopped 17 shots, and Connor McDavid registered two assists. Bouchard is the first defenseman in NHL history to have a five-point game in a season opener.
Bruins 3, Rangers 0
Boston rattled off three goals inside the final four minutes of the third period and beat visiting New York in the season opener for both teams.
Fraser Minten netted the game-winner with 3:46 remaining. He was the lone Bruin to finish with multiple points. JJ Peterka and Mark Kastelic also lit the lamp, while Jeremy Swayman pitched a 24-save shutout to lift Boston to its 11th consecutive home-opening win, which matches the NHL record.
Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin had 20 saves. New York was shut out in Mike Sullivan’s 1,000th game as an NHL head coach.
Canadiens 3, Maple Leafs 2
Josh Anderson and Alexandre Carrier each had a goal and an assist for Montreal in an opening-night victory at Toronto.
Zachary Bolduc also scored for the Canadiens while Jakub Dobes stopped 26 shots despite giving up a goal in the first minute.
William Nylander scored twice for the Maple Leafs, who had their 10-game home-opening winning streak snapped. Toronto’s Sergei Bobrovsky, an offseason pickup, made 21 saves.
Golden Knights 5, Blackhawks 2
Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists as Vegas opened the defense of its Western Conference title with a victory over Chicago in Ryan Craig’s head-coaching debut in Las Vegas.
Victor Olofsson, Trevor Connelly, Noah Hanifin and Mark Stone also scored goals and Brayden McNabb, Shea Theodore and Ivan Barbashev each had two assists for Vegas, which improved to 7-0-1 in its last eight season openers. Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart made 24 saves.
Patrick Kane and Jordan Greenway scored goals and Spencer Knight finished with 32 saves for Chicago.
