Carolina Hurricanes begin preseason Tuesday at PNC Arena

By Robert Furges, WRAL Sports contributor

Raleigh, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes start their preseason on Tuesday night. They will meet Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Columbus and the Florida Panthers in the preseason.

The first puck drops at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night when the Tampa Bay Lightning come to PNC Arena.

A game scheduled for Wednesday in Tampa Bay has been postponed due to incoming Hurricane Ian. It’s expected to make landfall near Tampa as a Cat. 3 storm with winds between 111 to 129 mph.

As of Tuesday, the Canes’ other preseason game in Florida, against the Panthers who are headquartered north of Miami, has not been postponed. The team is expected to travel to Sunrise, Fla., on Thursday and play against the Panthers that night at 7 p.m.

The Florida Panthers will then travel to Raleigh and play the Hurricanes at PNC Arena at 1 p.m. on Oct. 1.

The Columbus Blue Jackets will travel to Raleigh and play the Hurricanes at 7 p.m. Oct. 3, and the Hurricanes’ final preseason game will be in the Keybank Center in Buffalo, New York, against the Buffalo Sabers on Oct. 4.

Last year, when the Hurricanes’ played against the Tampa Bay Lightning back-to-back in the preseason, the Canes won the first matchup at home 3-1 and lost the second matchup in Tampa Bay 8-5.

The Hurricanes finished the 2021-2022 season third in the NHL with a 54-20 record but got knocked out in the second round of the NHL Playoffs by the New York Rangers.

The Hurricanes begin another run this season for the Stanley cup finals with the help of veteran acquisitions Brent Burns and Max Pacioretty hoping to push the Hurricanes to the finals again since 2006.

Listen to Stormwatch and Aftermath all season long on 99.9 FM the Fan, hosted by Adam Gold with special appearances by the returning Tripp Tracy.