The Hurricanes' captain, in his 13th season with the team, got on the board for the team's first goal of the 2024-25 season.
As we all predicted, the first goal of the Carolina Hurricanes' season was scored by the captain, Jordan Staal.
It was a slow start for Carolina, who had only one shot on goal for the first three-quarters of the first period, but some ferocious forechecking got the team back into the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Jordan Martinook pestered Lightning forward Brandon Hagel as he tried to take a puck around his own net and the pressure forced the puck loose where William Carrier hopped all over it.
The new Hurricane took the puck behind the net and his wraparound attempt went right to the 36-year-old captain who had positioned himself right on the backdoor for the tap-in.