''I mean, 9-1's a great start,'' Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. Vincent Trocheck had a goal and an assist for Carolina, and Jesper Fast also scored for the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes hadn't trailed by more than two goals in any of their first nine games, but were down 4-0 in the first period against Florida and couldn't pull off a comeback.

''Obviously, the whole league's watching. ''Tonight was a good test,'' Duclair said. Duclair got Florida on the board 2:28 into the contest and the Panthers led the rest of the way. It was the first game in NHL history pitting two teams with season-opening point streaks of at least nine games. Carolina (9-1-0) was bidding to join the 1993-94 Toronto Maple Leafs and those '06-07 Sabres as the lone teams to start a season with 10 consecutive wins. Spencer Knight made 28 saves for Florida (10-0-1), which tied the 1994-95 Pittsburgh Penguins and 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres as the only NHL teams to reach 21 points after 11 games. They do put entries in history books, however.

They don't really present trophies in November.'' ''I don't think it's a statement game,'' Panthers interim coach Andrew Brunette said. The Panthers matched the best 11-game start in NHL history and kept the Hurricanes from what would have been a league record-tying start of their own, with Anthony Duclair getting two goals and two assists in a 5-2 victory on Saturday night.

For the Carolina Hurricanes, history denied.

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