Final
FLA at CAR game report
Tuesday, September 29, 2026 · 5:00 p.m. ET · Lenovo Center
Panthers beat the Hurricanes 1–0 in overtime in an even game: expected goals were 2.3–2.0 and 8–7 in high-danger chances.
Team comparison
- 0Goals1
- 2.29Expected goals1.98
- 0.375-on-5 expected goals1.18
- 7High-danger chances8
- 15Shots on goal20
- 37Shot attempts51
- 165-on-5 shot attempts28
- 9:26Power-play time12:50
5-on-5 shares for CAR: 36.4% of shot attempts, 24.0% of expected goals.
Expected goals through the game
Each step is a shot; the bigger the step, the better the chance. A goal on a small step was a low-percentage finish.
Shot map
By strength
| CAR at… | Time | Attempts | xG | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 on 5 | 36:51 | 16–28 | 0.37–1.18 | 0–0 |
| Power play | 9:26 | 17–14 | 1.62–0.64 | 0–0 |
| Shorthanded | 12:50 | 2–4 | 0.20–0.03 | 0–0 |
| Other (4 on 4, 3 on 3, empty net) | 5:48 | 2–5 | 0.09–0.13 | 0–1 |
Read pairs as CAR–FLA. “Power play” means CAR had the extra skater.
Goaltending
| Goalie | Saves | SV% | xGA | GSAx |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Bussi CAR | 19/20 | .950 | 1.98 | +0.98 |
| Jacob Markstrom FLA | 15/15 | 1.000 | 2.29 | +2.29 |
GSAx above zero means the goalie stopped more than an average goalie would have, given the shots faced.
Player ratings
Out of 10, from each player's Game Score (goals, assists, shots, blocks, penalties, faceoffs and 5-on-5 shot and goal differential while on the ice) compared with every NHL game of the last two seasons. 6 is above average, 7 very good, 8 excellent. Goalies are rated on goals saved above expected. ★ = top three of the night. How ratings work
Average ratingHurricanes5.2Panthers6.0
| ★Top three of the night: Jacob MarkstromGFLA | 7.8 | 0 | 0 | — | 64:55 | — |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ★Top three of the night: Carter VerhaegheFFLA | 6.8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18:58 | 58.8 |
| ★Top three of the night: Gustav ForslingDFLA | 6.7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 22:40 | 52.9 |
| Brandon BussiGCAR | 6.6 | 0 | 0 | — | 64:55 | — |
| Sam ReinhartFFLA | 6.3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 20:57 | 81.8 |
| Niko MikkolaDFLA | 6.2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 21:32 | 57.1 |
| Aleksander BarkovFFLA | 6.1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20:32 | 88.9 |
| Lars EllerFFLA | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11:34 | 63.6 |
| Seth JonesDFLA | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28:59 | 66.7 |
| Sam BennettFFLA | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19:08 | 61.5 |
| Matthew TkachukFFLA | 5.9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19:01 | 57.1 |
| Anton LundellFFLA | 5.9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 19:02 | 53.3 |
| Eetu LuostarinenFFLA | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13:58 | 66.7 |
| Dmitry KulikovDFLA | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11:46 | 75.0 |
| Radko GudasDFLA | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10:45 | 72.7 |
| Jackson BlakeFCAR | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 21:38 | 42.1 |
| Brady TkachukFFLA | 5.6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16:33 | 85.7 |
| Aaron EkbladDFLA | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20:17 | 66.7 |
| Sebastian AhoFCAR | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 20:56 | 55.6 |
| Sandis VilmanisFFLA | 5.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11:23 | 47.4 |
| Andrei SvechnikovFCAR | 5.4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16:21 | 55.6 |
| Taylor HallFCAR | 5.4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15:27 | 50.0 |
| Jalen ChatfieldDCAR | 5.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19:12 | 50.0 |
| Shayne GostisbehereDCAR | 5.3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19:09 | 27.8 |
| William CarrierFCAR | 5.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6:46 | 28.6 |
| Sean WalkerDCAR | 5.2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19:10 | 37.5 |
| Bokondji ImamaFFLA | 5.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6:03 | 100.0 |
| Eric RobinsonFCAR | 5.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13:00 | 45.5 |
| Jaccob SlavinDCAR | 5.1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22:32 | 36.4 |
| K'Andre MillerDCAR | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25:15 | 37.5 |
| Garnet HathawayFFLA | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9:37 | 55.6 |
| Nicolas DeslauriersFCAR | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5:01 | 25.0 |
| Nikolaj EhlersFCAR | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19:24 | 11.1 |
| Mark JankowskiFCAR | 4.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13:13 | 14.3 |
| Logan StankovenFCAR | 4.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19:54 | 40.0 |
| Jordan MartinookFCAR | 4.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13:50 | 22.2 |
| Jordan StaalFCAR | 4.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17:17 | 20.0 |
| Charles Alexis LegaultDCAR | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12:40 | 27.8 |
Lines used
Each team's most-used forward lines and defence pairs at 5 on 5, from the NHL's shift charts · time together · shot attempts for–against · expected goals for–against
Hurricanes
Forward lines
- Hall – Stankoven – Blake8:29 · 8–6 · xG 0.2–0.3
- Staal – Martinook – Ehlers7:40 · 1–5 · xG 0.0–0.1
- Aho – Robinson – Svechnikov7:11 · 5–3 · xG 0.2–0.3
- Deslauriers – Jankowski – Carrier4:13 · 1–3 · xG 0.0–0.0
Defence pairs
- Slavin – Chatfield11:27 · 8–7 · xG 0.2–0.4
- Walker – Miller10:44 · 3–3 · xG 0.1–0.0
- Gostisbehere – Legault8:58 · 5–10 · xG 0.1–0.6
Panthers
Forward lines
- Verhaeghe – Bennett – Tkachuk8:07 · 4–3 · xG 0.2–0.0
- Barkov – Reinhart – Tkachuk8:02 · 5–1 · xG 0.2–0.0
- Luostarinen – Lundell – Vilmanis5:56 · 3–4 · xG 0.3–0.2
- Eller – Hathaway – Imama4:59 · 2–0 · xG 0.0–0.0
Defence pairs
- Jones – Mikkola13:51 · 9–5 · xG 0.7–0.1
- Kulikov – Gudas8:55 · 7–3 · xG 0.3–0.0
- Ekblad – Forsling8:20 · 5–3 · xG 0.0–0.0
Three stars
- ★G. ForslingFLA · 1G 0A
- ★★J. MarkstromFLA · 1.000 SV%
- ★★★B. BussiCAR · .950 SV%
Scoring
Overtime
- 04:55FLA G. Forsling (from C. Verhaeghe)1–0