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Carolina Hurricanes center Ivan Ryabkin can’t get the puck against Florida Panthers goaltender Daniil Tarasov (James Guillory-Imagn Images)

Panthers Storm Back to Defeat Hurricanes 4-2

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Zach Martin | Last updated Sep 24, 2025 9:17 PM ET

As the preseason rolls along, the Carolina Hurricanes hosted the Florida Panthers in their Community Game, where fans were able to attend with tickets starting at $10, with proceeds going to charities. At first, it seemed that the Hurricanes would cruise to their first preseason win after heading into the third period up 2-0. However, in the end, the Panthers defeated the Hurricanes 4-2, handing them their second preseason loss.

Game Recap

Unlike the first period in the first preseason game, the Hurricanes dominated play from the opening puck drop. It does help when most of the roster consists of NHL regulars, compared to the Panthers, who mostly had an American Hockey League (AHL) roster. Despite that, fans got to see Nikolaj Ehlers on the ice for the first time with the Hurricanes on a line with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis. This is a glimpse at what many believe to be the first line for the team this upcoming season. The Hurricanes got on the board first as Ryan Suzuki tipped in a Mike Reilly shot past Daniil Tarasov to make it a 1-0 game. While the puck was going into the net, Givani Smith dropped the gloves with Ben Harpur for his second fight in three days. The goal stood, and the Hurricanes had a lead.

Later on in the first period, Andrei Svechnikov and Eric Robinson, with a strong forecheck, forced a turnover in the Panthers’ zone and found Jesperi Kotkaniemi between the faceoff circles. He was able to get the shot off to beat Tarasov to double the Hurricanes’ lead. The Hurricanes were in total control as they outshot the Panthers 19-2 in the first period and went into the intermission with a 2-0 lead.

The second period did not have any goals, but the Hurricanes were not short of chances. They outshot the Panthers 16-6 to balloon the shots on goal to 35-8 after the first two periods. The players who stood out were the first line of Ehlers, Aho, and Jarvis, who could have had at least six points combined by that point. Furthermore, those three, along with Svechnikov and Shayne Gostisbehere on the first power-play unit, had multiple chances to score as well. There was a sense that those five together could be a tough group to stop for opposing penalty kill units. Frederik Andersen’s night was done, stopping all eight shots through the first two periods. Amir Miftakov took over for him at the start of the third period.

Early on in the third period, Harpur was able to rip a slap shot that went off the post to beat Miftakov to get the Panthers on the board. It was the third shot of the period that the Russian netminder saw in his first game with the Hurricanes. The Panthers would end up scoring three more goals, one of them an empty-net marker to steal the win from the Hurricanes. Noah Gregor, Mike Benning, and Jack Studnicka were the ones to rally off the goals necessary to secure the win. It was not an ideal period for Miftakov, who gave up three goals on seven shots in the final frame of the game. Credit has to go to Tarasov after saving 47 of 50 Hurricanes shots to snatch the win from the jaws of defeat.

The Hurricanes’ next game will be on Friday, Sept. 26, against the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road. They look to split the preseason matchup after losing to them 2-1 back on Monday, Sept. 22. The game is set for a 7 p.m. Eastern puck drop. Regarding the Panthers, they will take on the Hurricanes once again on Monday, Sept. 29, with puck drop scheduled for 6 p.m. Eastern.