A turnover-filled goal-scoring frenzy kicked off the Stanley Cup Final Tuesday night in Carolina, with Vegas scoring late in the third to win 5–4 and take a 1–0 lead in the series.
Carolina got the jump at 25 seconds into the first period when Nikolaj Ehlers raced down the wing and fired a shot from inside the circle that beat Carter Hart for a 1–0 lead.
Ehlers added another goal at 12:08 to make it 2–0. Jalen Chatfield intercepted a Vegas pass and found Ehlers behind the Knights’ defence. Ehlers skated in and beat Hart with a backhand to double the hurricanes advantage.
After a timeout, Vegas regrouped. Veteran defenceman Shea Theodore put the Knights on the board with a shot through traffic that beat Freddie Andersen at 13:28 to cut the deficit to 2–1.
Vegas struck quickly in the second period. 30 seconds in, Jack Eichel set up Ivan Barbashev for the tying goal . Then, at 4:00, William Karlsson gave Vegas their first lead, scoring his second of the playoffs after receiving a no-look behind-the-back pass from Mitch Marner.
Down one, Carolina responded. A failed Vegas clearing attempt resulted in a Jordan Staal goal at 12:42 that re-tied the game at 3–3.
The score remained deadlocked until the 1:21 mark of the third period. Brett Howden deflected a Shea Theodore pass into the net to give Vegas a 4–3 lead. Carolina fought back again. Shayne Gostisbehere collected the puck off a faceoff scramble and lifted it past Hart to even the score 4–4 at 11:19.
The back-and-forth ended with Tomas Hertl scoring the game-winner at 16:36. Hertl buried the puck off a beautiful feed from Colton Sissons to put the Golden Knights ahead for good, sealing a 5–4 final.
The teams are back at it Thursday night in Carolina for Game 2.
