What - Game 1 (0-0-0)
When - 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 9
Where - Lenovo Center; Raleigh, NC
How to Watch - ESPN+, hulu 

The start of the Carolina Hurricanes' 2025-26 season is finally upon us as the team will be kicking off the season with a showdown with the New Jersey Devils.

It hasn't been long since the two teams last met, with them having faced each other in the first round of last year's postseason, which Carolina won in five games.

The two teams are projected to compete for the top spot in the Metropolitan so it should be a good matchup between two talented squads, but one can perhaps expect to see a bit of rust still.

Streaks

• N/A

Milestone Watch

• K'Andre Miller and Nikolaj Ehlers will make their Carolina Hurricanes debut tonight.
• Alexander Nikishin will make his NHL regular season debut after playing in five postseason games last year.
• Jaccob Slavin is one point shy of 300 career points.
• Jordan Staal is two goals shy of 300 career goals.
• Staal is also three games shy of playing 900 games as a Hurricane.
• Seth Jarvis is four goals shy of 100 career goals.
• K'Andre Miller is four assists away from 100 career assists.
• Nikolaj Ehlers is five assists away from 300 career assists.
• Jordan Martinook is five goals shy of 100 career goals.
• Sean Walker is five games away from playing in 400 career games.

Game Notes

• The Hurricanes are 67-77-12-6 all-time against New Jersey.
• Last season, the two teams split the regular season series 2-2, but Carolina has a 10-4-0 edge in the last 14 meetings between the two clubs.
• The Canes also faced the New Jersey Devils in the first round of the playoffs last year, defeating them in five games. Sebastian Aho scored the series winning goal, a double overtime power play blast, in Game 5 at Lenovo Center.
• Carolina will face the Devils three other times this regular season, twice in January and for the final time in March.
• Nikolaj Ehlers (11g, 21pts in 18gp) is a point-per-game player for his career against the Devils.
• The franchise is 14-21-5-5 all-time in season openers, but are 4-1-0 in their last five openers and are 5-1-1 under Rod Brind'Amour. Carolina lost the opener last year, a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Lenovo Center.

Key Matchups

Projected Starting Goalies

• Frederik Andersen: 13-8-1; 0.899 Sv%; 2.50 GAA
• Jacob Markstrom: 26-16-6; 0.900 Sv%; 2.50 GAA

Leading Scorers

• Goals - Seth Jarvis (32) / Nico Hischier (35)
• Points - Sebastian Aho (74) / Jesper Bratt (88)

Power Play

• Carolina - 18.7% (25th)
• New Jersey - 28.2% (3rd)

Penalty Kill

• Carolina - 83.6% (1st)
• New Jersey - 82.7% (2nd)

Hurricanes Projected Lineup

Nikolaj Ehlers - Sebastian Aho - Seth Jarvis
Andrei Svechnikov - Logan Stankoven - Jackson Blake
Jordan Martinook - Jordan Staal - William Carrier
Taylor Hall - Jesperi Kotkaniemi - Eric Robinson

Jaccob Slavin - Sean Walker
K’Andre Miller - Jalen Chatfield
Alexander Nikishin - Shayne Gostisbehere

Frederik Andersen
Brandon Bussi

Injuries and Scratches: Mark Jankowski, Mike Reilly, Pyotr Kochetkov (undisclosed)

Devils Projected Lineup

Evgenii Dadonov - Jack Hughes - Jesper Bratt
Timo Meier - Nico Hischier - Dawson Mercer
Ondrej Palat - Cody Glass - Connor Brown
Paul Cotter - Luke Glendening - Arseny Gritsyuk

Jonas Siegenthaler - Dougie Hamilton
Luke Hughes - Brett Pesce
Brenden Dillon - Simon Nemec

Jacob Markstrom
Jake Allen

Injuries and Scratches: Zack MacEwen, Dennis Cholowski, Juho Lammikko, Stefan Noesen (groin), Johnathan Kovacevic (knee) Seamus Casey (LBI)

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