Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Czech international Tomas Hertl scored a late winner as the Vegas Golden Knights came from behind to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 and take a 1-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final series on Tuesday. Hertl rammed in a snap shot with 3min 24sec remaining to settle an enthralling opening game at the Canes’ Lenovo Center arena in Raleigh after Vegas had fought back from an early 2-0 deficit.
“Obviously we didn’t have a great start but it’s kind of our story all season but we never give up,” Hertl said. “As a team it doesn’t matter whether we’re up or down, we just keep playing.”
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The tone for a tumultuous contest was set in a frenetic opening, when Nikolaj Ehlers scored after just 25 seconds for Carolina. The 30-year-old Danish international picked up the puck inside his own half and went hurtling down the ice before unleashing a ferocious shot that flew past Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart. That was the precursor for a sustained period of pressure by the Hurricanes, with Hart making a string of saves in the Vegas goal to keep his team in the contest.
The relentless Carolina pressure finally got its reward though and it was Ehlers again who doubled the Hurricanes lead. Vegas conceded possession at the blue line and Carolina’s Jalen Chatfield picked out Ehlers in acres of space, who coolly flipped a deft finish past Hart to make it 2-0. Vegas grabbed a lifeline with 6min 32sec left in the first period when Shea Theodore’s long-range slap-shot somehow found its way through a crowd of players around the goal to reduce Carolina’s lead to 2-1.
Within 30 seconds of the second period getting under way, Vegas had drawn level through an Ivan Barbashev snap shot. William Karlsson then reduced the Carolina home crowd to stunned silence as Vegas took the lead, the Swedish forward jabbing home from close range after superb work from Mitch Marner behind the goal. Carolina came roaring back and equalized thanks to Jordan Staal’s snap shot late in the period that made it 3-3.
Brett Howden restored the Golden Knights lead in the third period, but Shayne Gostisbehere hit back to level once more before Hertl’s late winner. Game two of the series takes place on Thursday.
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