Carolina @ Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 2, 2019 ) Carolina 4, Florida 3

The Carolina Hurricanes seek their fourth straight victory to open the season and hope to make things a little easier on themselves in the process when they visit the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. The Hurricanes have had to rally in all three games, beating Montreal in a shootout and registering overtime victories over 2018-19 Eastern Conference division winners Washington and Tampa Bay.

“We’ve got a resilient group in here,” Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin told reporters after his overtime goal beat the Lightning 4-3 on Sunday. “We’ve got to learn not to put ourselves in those holes and, obviously, play a strong first two periods so we don’t have to rely on that third period and always be coming from behind. But it’s definitely a confidence-builder for the group, and we hope we can continue on that path.” The Hurricanes swept the three-game season series with the Panthers in 2018-19 - two in Florida - and own points in eight of the last nine meetings (7-1-1) as they play the first of five road contests in the next seven outings overall. Florida split a pair of games with Tampa Bay to open the season, building a three-goal lead at home Saturday before holding on for a 4-3 victory as Mike Hoffman recorded a hat trick. “We did some good things and had some really good stretches in the game,” Panthers’ first-year coach Joel Quenneville told reporters. “At the end, was a good lesson for us to have composure in that situation.”

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Carolinas, FS Florida

ABOUT THE HURRICANES (3-0-0): Carolina held powerful Tampa Bay without a shot in the second period Sunday and it has received five goals from defensemen in the first three games - two by Slavin. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton (one goal, three assists) is tied for the team lead with four points while forwards Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov have each contributed four assists. Center Erik Haula, who was acquired in a trade with Vegas in the offseason, has scored a goal in all three games after managing two tallies in 15 contests during an injury-plagued 2018-19 campaign.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (1-1-0): Hoffman led the team with a career-high 36 goals last season and is flying out of the gate with four in the first two contests - two on the power play. “It’s fun to play when things are going your way,” Hoffman told reporters. “You lick your chops when you get those opportunities. Obviously there’s some good players on our power play and they can find me in open ice. I try to get myself open as much as I can.” Sergei Bobrovsky, who was signed to a long-term deal as a free agent in the offseason, has stopped 57 of the 64 shots he has faced in the early going.

OVERTIME

1. Florida D Keith Yandle is slated to play his 800th consecutive game Tuesday, the fifth-longest streak in NHL history.

2. Carolina C Sebastian Aho, who led the team in scoring last season, has yet to record a point despite leading the team with 13 shots.

3. The Panthers are 29th in the league in face-off percentage (41.9) and Carolina (51.0) is 11th.

PREDICTION: Panthers 4, Hurricanes 3