The Vegas Golden Knights overcame an early two-goal deficit to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday night at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Vegas forward Tomáš Hertl secured the victory by scoring the tiebreaking goal with 3:24 remaining in the third period.
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The win put the Golden Knights three victories away from their second Stanley Cup title in franchise history.
Vegas became the first team ever to complete a multi-goal comeback to win Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on the road.
Offensive Showcase
Vegas goaltender Carter Hart and Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen both started despite unconventional regular seasons.
Andersen conceded five goals on 23 shots, while Hart secured the win despite a difficult defensive night for both teams.
Goals for Vegas came from Shea Theodore, Ivan Barbashev, William Karlsson, Brett Howden, and Hertl.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice for Carolina, with additional goals from Jordan Staal and Shayne Gostisbehere.
Staal scored exactly 16 years and 358 days after his last Stanley Cup Final goal in 2009, marking the longest duration between final round goals in NHL history.
The Golden Knights defensive pairing of Brayden McNabb and Theodore each recorded three points, becoming only the third duo of defensemen in NHL history to achieve this in a single Stanley Cup Final game.
Team Reactions
Vegas forward Brett Howden expressed satisfaction with the victory and noted the back-and-forth nature of the high-scoring matchup.
