RALEIGH, N.C. — Victor Hedman and his Tampa Bay Lightning teammates spent the better part of a week in North Carolina, watching what was happening at home as Hurricane Milton raged ashore.

Now that the storm has passed and the regular season opener is upon us, they can finally return home and find out what’s next.

The Lightning defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 in their season opener Friday night, capping both teams an extended stay in the Raleigh area, their getaway from Florida before Milton’s arrival. Leaving Tampa Bay early meant skating for days to get ready, spending time with their families on an extended stay in a new place and hoping for the best back home.

“I think most of the guys have gotten reports on their own properties,” Hedman said, later adding, “It’s good to have a few days to kind of get it all together.”

This week’s storm claimed at least 10 lives in flooding and tornadoes Friday evening, while the number of Florida customers without power was about 1.9 million, according to poweroutage.us. The Lightning’s preseason game against Nashville on Monday was canceled and the team instead traveled to North Carolina to get out of the area before Milton landed.

Jon Cooper, who coached the Lightning to two Stanley Cups, wasn’t sure how his team would respond Friday night with disrupted routines and worries.

“As a coach, on the outside you want to be optimistic, but sometimes on the inside you’re a little nervous,” Cooper said. “So you weren’t quite sure what would happen next. But I know the boys really wanted to play a hockey game.”

Aside from Jordan Staal’s goal, Cooper liked the way Tampa Bay played in the first period. A strong third period with three goals – the one-time go-ahead and two empty goals – from Nikita Kucherov brought the Lightning victory.

“I think everyone is so locked in right now,” Kucherov said.

The game between the perennial playoff teams offered a welcome distraction and normality, at least in an unusual situation.

Many of the players had family members with them on the trip, and Cooper gave the team Wednesday off as they prepared for opening night. Cooper also took advantage of the chance to go to Duke in nearby Durham to reunite with Blue Devils men’s lacrosse coach John Danowski, Cooper’s coach at Hofstra during his own playing career (1986-89), in the he scored 74 goals and won two conference championships.

Danowski offered a tour of Duke and its venerable basketball arena, Cameron Indoor Stadium, and Cooper said he also met retired Blue Devils Hall of Fame basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski – the winningest coach in the sport’s history with 1,202 wins in his Career included five NCAA titles and 13 Final Fours.

Next was a visit to nearby North Carolina, as the Lightning were based in Chapel Hill, home of the Tar Heels basketball program, which has won six NCAA titles and is known for its notable basketball alums.

“We saw hundreds of pictures of Michael Jordan everywhere and found a pretty cool place,” Cooper told reporters Friday. “It was good, we had a great time. However, I didn’t realize how close Duke and North Carolina were, and I understand why there is such a rivalry.”

“They’re the things you have to do when you have a little more time.”

The Lightning and Hurricanes were originally scheduled to play again in Florida on Saturday, but that game was postponed due to Milton’s recovery efforts. That means Tampa Bay won’t play New Jersey again until Tuesday.

“I don’t know if anyone on the team has the power,” Cooper said after the win. “Everyone will probably go back to Tampa and stay in a hotel. … This will be the first time anyone will be able to see with their own eyes the damage that has been done. Is there water in your house or not? So this is how we are not yet over the mountain of adversity that we have to face.

The team will not be skating on Saturday and will look to get back to work on Sunday, hopefully with some certainty about what lies ahead.

“We’re really excited to get back home and hopefully get our lives back on track,” Hedman said, “and hopefully we’ll be able to deal with the storms this year.”