Hurricanes Ease By Panthers

     The Florida Panthers were edged by the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in a shootout at Lenovo Center in Raleigh on Tuesday night. It was the second preseason contest for both clubs. Panthers goalie Akira Schmid made his Panthers debut in net. 

     The Panthers and the Hurricanes will face each other for the regular season opener on September 29 at Raleigh. Carolina will raise their 2026 Stanley Cup championship banner to the rafters prior to that contest. 

     Florida rolled out to a 1-0 lead at the 4:31 mark of the opening period. Aleksander Barkov tapped the puck on the left goal line and Sam Reinhart sent a pass from the left corner. Brady Tkachuk chalked up his third goal in two preseason games with a snap shot from the top left circle. 

     Carolina evened it up 1-1 at 7:00 of the first. Brady Nadeau was able to pick a tally from the top of the crease following a left point shot by former Panthers defenseman Mike Reilly.

     The Cats made it 2-1 just 18 seconds later. Seth Jones cleared the puck out of their defensive zone with a lead pass from the goal line. Tkachuk pushed a square pass in the neutral zone. Barkov skated into the Canes zone and placed in a wrist shot from the left inner circle for his second goal in the preseason. 

     In the second period, the Hurricanes got the only goal during the frame. Justin Robidas had an unassisted goal with 8:35 to go when he snapped a shot from the right wing off a Panthers turnover. There was no scoring by either team in the third period and overtime.   

     The shootout would decide the contest. Nadeau scored on Carolina's second attempt with a backhand shot and Felix Unger Sorum followed with a backhand shot on their third attempt for the victory.