Raw Charge
Summary
NHL Opening Night The puck has finally dropped for the new season! The Carolina Hurricanes raised their new Stanley Cup banner to christen the new season in Raleigh against the Florida Panthers. It took a while before the first goal was scored as the game entered overtime scoreless and seemed destined for a shutout shootout before Gustav Forsling scored from distance on a slapshot with 4.3 seconds left. You probably won’t ever see a first goal of the game scored any later than that in the regular season. [ Canes Country] All of Canada was celebrating their national past time with an old-fashioned Montreal vs Toronto match-up in Toronto. It didn’t take long for the first goal in the game (and first of the NHL season two hours after the FLA-CAR game started) only 48 seconds into the 1st Period by William Nylander. First overall pick Gavin McKenna played 15:19 in 18 shifts and recorded no points with one shot on goal and finished -2. Montreal held on to a one goal lead late in the game to end Toronto’s 10 game Home Opener winning streak. [ Habs Eye on the Prize ] Not to be outdone in the United States, the NHL scheduled another old-fashioned Original 6 contest between the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers in Boston. Head Coach Mike Sullivan coached in his 1,000th NHL game as the new look Rangers attempt to improve after finishing 30th in the NHL last year while David Pastrnak played his first game as Captain in Boston. This game was also scoreless heading into the 3rd period until Fraser Minton broke the 0-0 tie with 3:46 remaining in the game. Newly acquired J.J. Peterka scored less than a minute later and the Bruins added an empty-net goal while Jeremy Swayman shut the door and the Bruins extend their 10 game Home Opener winning streak with a 3-0 victory. [ Stanley Cup of Chowder ] In a battle of new coaches with new teams, Manny Malhotra’s Vancouver Canucks surprised Mike Babcock’s Edmonton Oilers as Paul Cotter’s overtime goal gave Malhotra a win in his NHL coaching debut. Cotter had two goals while Evan Bouchard had a hat trick for Edmonton. [ Nucks Misconduct ] Vegas scored twice in the first period and never looked back as they concluded the hockey evening with a 5-2 win over Chicago. Jack Eichel led the way with a goal and two assists as he reached 700 career points. Carter Hart stopped 24 of 26 shots for the win. Old friend Ryan Craig picks up a victory in his NHL coaching debut. [ Knights on Ice ] Lightning News The Lightning don’t play until Thursday, but in the meantime they put together a pretty informative graphic on how to watch Lightning hockey around the state of Florida. The TV schedule features 14 nationally broadcast games and can be watched over-the-air (FOR FREE!) on Scripps The Spot: WXTP-TV Channel 66.1 in Tampa Bay and across the state. There’s also many ways to stream Lightning games from outside of the Tampa Bay area. [ Lightning ] Our (TV) guide to watching Bolts hockey 📺 More info ⤵️ https://t.co/OfibSdZTU0 — Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) September 30, 2026 There’s been a lot of talk in the preseason of what the Lightning may do with all eight of their NHL-ready defensemen. Benjamin Pierce wrote a pretty good piece about them and what they bring as a unit with a bevy of veterans and up-and-coming defensemen. Don’t be surprised to see Jon Cooper go with 11F/7D line-up many games this season. [ Lightning ] League News The Minnesota Wild got some pretty terrible news regarding defensemen Brock Faber. He was hit in the head with a shot in their game last Friday and it was announced that he suffered a fractured skull that required surgery and will be out indefinitely. The Wild have their own questions regarding an unsigned superstar as Quinn Hughes remains unsigned past this season. The Wild have some pretty good options to replace Faber on the top line with Hughes, but how will they manage without one of the top pairs in the NHL in Faber’s absence? [ Hockey Wilderness ] The Senators have filled their vacancy at Captain with the departure of Brady Tkachuk this off-season. Thomas Chabot was named team Captain yesterday and is the longest tenured player in Ottawa at 29 years old. Chabot has 78 goals and 257 assists, totaling 335 points, in 569 regular season games with the Senators and is now entering his 11th season in the NHL. [ NHL ] The Sportsbooks are undecided on who the favorite for the Stanley Cup is this season but the consensus has three favorites. Carolina, Florida and Colorado all have very similar odds coming into the season. Hard Rock bet has the favorite as the Florida Panthers at +650, followed by the Carolina Hurricanes at +700 and Colorado Avalanche at +750. The Lightning have the 6th best odds at +1200. [ ESPN ]