RALEIGH, N.C. -- Panthers' coach Pete DeBoer kept his team's defensive pairings in a comfort zone for the team's season opener Friday night at RBC Center against the host Hurricanes.

Florida's top pairing was Jay Bouwmeester and Bryan Allen, a duo who have played together quite a bit over the past two seasons. The second pairing featured Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton, the pair who came east from Phoenix when Florida shipped Olli Jokinen to the Coyotes.

Bryan McCabe and Cory Murphy comprised Florida's third pairing. That pair played together in Monday night's preseason game against the Islanders but otherwise had not gotten much work together this preseason.

''So many things can jump in and mess up the mixture,'' said DeBoer, who made his NHL coaching debut Friday. ``There's a comfort level. We've liked what we've seen.''

Murphy's insertion into the opening night lineup was surprising, considering Florida put him on waivers earlier in the week. Murphy cleared waivers Wednesday and returned to practice Thursday, DeBoer saying the 30-year-old ``deserved to get in.''

Noah Welch, the seventh defenseman on the active roster with veteran Karlis Skrastins on the injured list, was a healthy scratch. Welch could spell Murphy in Florida's lineup Saturday night at BankAtlantic Center.

''A lot of guys go through waivers and come back to have great seasons,'' DeBoer said of Murphy.

UP, BUT OUT

Rookie Michael Frolik was on Florida's opening night roster, the winger spared a trip to Florida's AHL affiliate in Rochester, N.Y., for the time being. Fellow freshman Shawn Matthias was sent to Rochester on Thursday night and played in the Americans' opener Friday night against the visiting Syracuse Crunch.

DeBoer said with some of Florida's wingers nursing minor injuries, Frolik was the obvious choice to stick around since he could acclimate himself easier than the bigger Matthias. Frolik didn't play Friday, joining Anthony Stewart and Welch as scratches in the press box.

''We had to get down to 23 on the roster,'' DeBoer said. ``I told [Matthias] in our exit meeting that I thought he did everything he could to make this team. He just has to go down there and when we call, the reports have to be that he's a dominant player and doesn't belong in the American League. He has a bright future. I'm real impressed with him. I'm impressed with both of them. It was a pick-em deal. We could have flipped a coin.''

A WORKHORSE

Like most goalies, Tomas Vokoun would rather play than watch from the bench, and DeBoer seems willing to accommodate his All-Star backstop. Vokoun started Friday's opener, with DeBoer saying he plans to start Vokoun again Saturday against the Thrashers in Sunrise.

After Saturday's game, Florida doesn't play again until Minnesota visits on Thursday.

''He's used to playing a lot of games, so this won't be anything new for him,'' DeBoer said.

• DeBoer said he didn't mind Florida opening the season with back-to-back games, although its obvious the NHL could have spread things out a little bit more. The RBC Center was available Thursday and the two teams could have opened then. Like the Panthers, Carolina had to catch a flight directly after the game, the Hurricanes traveling to Tampa Bay to face the Lightning in that team's home opener.

Aside from the Lightning -- which just returned from a trip to Europe -- the entire Southeast Conference will open the season with games on consecutive nights. Atlanta opened Friday against the Capitals before traveling to South Florida; Washington will play host to Chicago on Saturday.

''It's not stranger than six in six nights,'' DeBoer joked, poking fun at Florida's aggressive preseason schedule. ``But it's good. You don't have time to think about it or worry about it. My experience with opening nights is you don't know what you're going to get. There's always a lot of nervous energy.''

SATURDAY: THRASHERS @ PANTHERS

• When: 7 p.m.

• Where: BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise

• TV/Radio: FSN, 790-AM

• The Series: Atlanta leads 27-18 with five ties

• The Game: Both the Panthers and Thrashers played Friday night, and with the exception of the Lightning, the entire Southeast Division opened its season with games on consecutive nights. . . . The Panthers have won seven of the past 10 against the Thrashers, winning three of four last year in Atlanta. . . . G Tomas Vokoun is expected to start for Florida. . . . D Karlis Skrastins (neck) is out.

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@