06/02/26 10:12:00
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06/02 22:11 CDT Hertl's goal lifts Golden Knights past Hurricanes 5-4 to open
Stanley Cup Final
Hertl's goal lifts Golden Knights past Hurricanes 5-4 to open Stanley Cup Final
By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) --- Tomas Hertl took a backhand pass from Colton Sisson and
beat Frederik Anderson from the slot with 3:24 left in the third period,
lifting the Vegas Golden Knights past the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in Tuesday
night's opener of the Stanley Cup Final.
Hertl's finish off Sisson's feed from the right faceoff circle broke a 4-4 tie
and pushed the Golden Knights ahead in an entertaining back-and-forth start on
the sport's biggest stage. It marked Vegas' seventh straight win of the
playoffs, starting with the last two games of the six-game second-round series
against Anaheim and then the shocking four-game sweep of the Presidents'
Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche.
That series included Vegas erasing a 3-0 deficit to take Game 3, and now the
Golden Knights have followed by rallying from another multigoal deficit -- this
time 2-0 in the opening period -- against the team that finished second only to
the Avs in the regular season.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday in Raleigh, with Vegas already
having taken home-ice away from the Hurricanes as it chases a second Cup title
in four seasons.
Shea Theodore, Ivan Barbashev, William Karlsson and Brett Howden also scored
for Vegas, with Howden's postseason-leading 11th score giving the Golden
Knights a 4-3 lead just 1:21 into the third period. Carter Hart finished with
23 saves.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice for the Hurricanes, the first coming 25 seconds
into the game when he got loose and a rush and blasted one past Hart from the
left side on the game's first shot. He followed with a breakaway that gave
Carolina a 2-0 lead and sent a charged home crowd into an eruption in the
team's first Stanley Cup Final game in two decades.
Jordan Staal and Shayne Gostisbehere each scored tying goals after Vegas had
pushed to a lead, with Gostisbehere skating in clean on the left side to blast
one past Hart at 11:19 of the third period and tie it once more at 4.
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