Vegas erased a two-goal first-period deficit, survived Carolina’s late push and rode Tomas Hertl’s finish with 3:24 left to take Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, 5-4, at Lenovo Center in Raleigh on Tuesday.
Vegas Golden Knights Take Game 1 of Stanley Cup Final
SEO Title: Golden Knights Rally Past Hurricanes 5-4 in Stanley Cup Final Game 1
SEO Description: Tomas Hertl scored late as the Vegas Golden Knights overcame a 2-0 deficit to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Hertl buried the winner from between the hash marks after a give-and-go with Colton Sissons, breaking a 4-4 tie shortly after Carter Hart denied Seth Jarvis on a dangerous one-timer. The Golden Knights became the first visiting club in NHL history to win Game 1 of a Stanley Cup Final after climbing back from multiple goals down.
“The winning goal is a great feeling, but this was about the whole group,” Hertl said. “Blocked shots, stick checks and all those small plays matter even more at this point of the year. We were a little rusty early, then did a lot right.”
How the opener swung back and forth
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Nikolaj Ehlers put Carolina in front 25 seconds into the opening period, keeping the puck on a 2-on-1 and beating Hart’s glove from the left circle. It was the third-quickest opening goal in a Game 1 in Final history, and the fastest since Reggie Leach scored 21 seconds into the 1976 Final.
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Ehlers made it 2-0 at 12:08, taking Jalen Chatfield’s pass on a breakaway and finishing past Hart.
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Vegas gathered around the bench during the next television stoppage, with coach John Tortorella urging his players to get moving north and remain patient. Tortorella said the club had drifted away from its intended approach while down two goals.
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Shea Theodore started the comeback at 13:28. His right-point one-timer clipped Eric Robinson’s left shin and beat Frederik Andersen after Cole Smith fed Brayden McNabb low-to-high and McNabb moved the puck across the blue line.
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Ivan Barbashev tied it 30 seconds into the second period, taking a Jack Eichel feed and snapping a high short-side shot from the left circle. The game became the first Stanley Cup Final contest with goals inside the opening 30 seconds of both the first and second periods.
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William Karlsson gave Vegas its first lead at 4:35 of the middle frame, converting Mitch Marner’s backhand pass from below the goal line. Karlsson scored from the slot for a 3-2 edge.
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Carolina answered at 12:42. Jordan Staal capitalized after Noah Hanifin turned the puck over, ending Vegas’ run of three unanswered goals.
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Brett Howden restored the Vegas lead 1:21 into the third. Theodore sent a diagonal pass through the left circle, and Howden cut behind Chatfield before redirecting the puck beneath Andersen’s right arm.
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Shayne Gostisbehere made it 4-4 at 11:19, firing in an unassisted goal from the left circle after a faceoff created by a Vegas icing. Carolina scored 16 seconds after killing Mark Jankowski’s delay-of-game penalty.
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Hart made the key stop at 16:15, reaching with his glove to take away Jarvis from the right circle. Twenty-one seconds later, Sissons and Hertl connected, with Hertl beating Andersen’s blocker for the deciding goal.
Blue-line production and a resilient Vegas response
Theodore finished with a goal and two assists, while McNabb supplied three assists. Hart stopped 25 shots as Vegas extended its franchise-best postseason winning streak to seven games, a run that began with Game 5 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Anaheim Ducks.
Theodore and McNabb also became the first defensemen from the same team to record three points each in Game 1 of a Final. They are the third defense pairing to accomplish that in any Final game, following the New York Rangers’ Brian Leetch and Sergei Zubov in Game 4 in 1994, and Edmonton’s Charlie Huddy and Paul Coffey in Game 4 in 1985.
“It says plenty about our room, our leaders and what this group has experienced,” Howden said. “That showed up tonight.”
Howden’s third-period goal was his NHL-leading 11th of the playoffs. Marner’s assist on Karlsson’s goal gave him a League-leading 22 points this postseason.
Karlsson pointed to the shift in Vegas’ forecheck after the early hole. “Get it deep, win it back and put people in front of the net,” he said. “The game can be simple.”
Carolina looks to reset
Ehlers scored twice in the first period for the Hurricanes, while Staal and Gostisbehere added goals. Andersen made 18 saves. Carolina had lost the opening game of the Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens before responding with four straight wins.
Jarvis said the Hurricanes need to withstand the momentum swings better in the series. “Every team is going to make its push,” he said. “We have to handle those stretches better.”
Staal called the defeat a hard one but said Carolina understands the task ahead. “It will be a battle and a grind,” he said. “Our game has to be sharper if we’re going to beat them.”
Tortorella credited Vegas for finding its way through a wild opener. “I’ve said throughout the playoffs that this is a league where you have to find a way,” he said. “We did that tonight.”
Hertl’s tally was the latest go-ahead goal in a Stanley Cup Final game since Patric Hornqvist scored at 18:25 of the third period for Pittsburgh in Game 6 against Nashville in 2017.
Next puck drop
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday at Lenovo Center, with puck drop scheduled for 8 p.m. ET. ABC, SN, TVAS and CBC will carry the game.
