"We're So Back": 2025-26 Regular Season, Game 1: Carolina Hurricanes vs. New Jersey Devils

There are few days I look forward to on the hockey schedule more than Opening Night. Only the trade deadline and July 1st surpass it, in my mind, even if the first day of free agency was a bummer this summer. The Canes return to the ice with massive expectations after another conference finals loss. They snapped their losing streak in the 3rd round, but they still provided little resistance to the defending champions. The first test for this new season is the New Jersey Devils, one of the two teams the Canes defeated in the postseason last season. With their health in a much better spot than it was in April, it promised to be an exciting start to the new campaign. 

Scoring Summary

1st Period

CAR (4:06)- Taylor Hall (1) (Shayne Gostisbehere (1) & Alexander Nikishin (1))

2nd Period

NJD (8:15)- Dougie Hamilton (1) (Jesper Bratt (1) & Jack Hughes (1))

CAR (9:23)- K'Andre Miller (1) (William Carrier (1))

NJD (13:54)- Cody Glass (1) (Luke Hughes (1))

3rd Period

CAR (10:21-PP)- K'Andre Miller (2) (Sebastian Aho (1) & Jackson Blake (1))

NJD (11:38)- Jesper Bratt (1) (Brett Pesce (1) & Luke Hughes (2))

CAR (17:17)- Seth Jarvis (1) (Sebastian Aho (2) & Shayne Gostisbehere (2))

CAR (19:05-EN)- Seth Jarvis (2) (unassisted)

CAR (19:47)- Eric Robinson (1) (Taylor Hall (1) & Jesperi Kotkaniemi (1))

My Thoughts

I truly missed the anxiety that comes with watching regular-season hockey. Every second of this game had me on the edge of my seat. It was one of the better openers we've seen from the Hurricanes in recent memory on entertainment alone. I'd be lying if I said their fast start didn't play a major part in that. Along with Taylor Hall getting the scoring started just over four minutes in, the Canes were buzzing the tower for most of the opening 20. Jacob Markstrom had to be on his game, while Frederik Andersen watched as things got tense. He was forced into action later in the period, and the Devils showed considerable fight in the second period, outscoring the Canes 2-1 to ensure a tie game going into the 3rd. 

I don't even think the Canes really pulled away by much in the third period. The Devils were with them punch-for-punch for a good bit. Every time the Canes took the lead, the Devils were right there to tie it up. Eventually, the Canes' pressure became too much. The Devils' big players came to play. Jack Hughes had a point. His brother, Luke, had two assists. Jesper Bratt and Dougie Hamilton scored. Brett Pesce had a solid game. The difference was the Hurricanes' depth throughout the lineup. Everyone was pulling on the rope to get this one across the finish line. The guys you need to perform showed up. Sebastian Aho had two assists. Seth Jarvis scored twice. The fourth line scored two goals (Hall, Robinson). The new guys fit in beautifully, anchored by a two-goal effort by K'Andre Miller. 10 skaters had points, and 5 of them had more than one. That is where this game was won.

While they won on the scoreboard, the Canes also won the unofficial game of hitting the post a million times. Unofficially, the Canes hit seven posts tonight. Jarvis led the way with two, preventing him from scoring another hat trick. Aho had a glorious short-handed chance robbed by the metal. Taylor Hall would've caused roof damage with how loud the crowd would've been if he'd scored right after Miller's second of the game. They hit the post that many times and still hit the back of the net with six shots. It was a tough time for the Devils' netminder, who did everything he could until the dam broke. Both of Miller's goals were on the softer side, but three of the Canes' goals probably would've beaten 99% of the league's goalies. 

Obviously, there are plenty of details to iron out after the first game. There was a ton to the good for the Hurricanes tonight, but it was far from perfect. They were sloppy with the puck at times, especially in the neutral zone. The Stankoven line didn't gel as well as they did during the preseason. The power play could always use some extra work. It's a work in progress, but the Canes are working from ahead after winning the first game of the season. It's a marathon, not a sprint. We still have 81 of these things left.

First Star of the Game: Seth Jarvis

The story of the night was K'Andre Miller's incredible debut, but I have to go with "Mr. Faceoff" for the first game. Jarvis was having a frustrating night, hitting the post twice on glorious chances. While self-depracating as he might be, Jarvis stuck with it. He won a battle in front of the net against Brett Pesce to get his stick free and score the game-winning goal. Jarvis added the ENG to begin his trek toward a third-straight 30-goal campaign.

Next Up: The Canes host the Flyers on Saturday night in Raleigh before beginning their six-game, two-week trip during the State Fair. They'll play three games in California before a daunting week through Vegas, Denver, and Dallas.