Golden Knights become first road team to overcome multi-goal deficit to win Game 1 of Cup Final
With their 5-4 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, the Vegas Golden Knights became the first road team in NHL history to overcome a multi-goal deficit to win Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
After trailing 2-0 midway through the first period off a pair of goals by Hurricanes forward Nikolaj Ehlers, the Golden Knights rallied in what became a back-and-forth game at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh.
Entering Tuesday’s game, road teams were 0-55 all-time after trailing at any point in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, via ESPN Insights. Vegas made that 1-55 with their come-from-behind victory in Carolina.
Tomas Hertl scored the deciding goal for Vegas with just 3:24 remaining in the third period to quiet the home crowd and clinch the critical first win of the championship series. Shea Theodore, Ivan Barbashev, William Karlsson, and Brett Howden also scored for Vegas, which extended its current winning streak to seven games (dating back to Game 5 against the Anaheim Ducks in the second round).
The Golden Knights, winners of the Pacific Division in the regular season, are gunning to win their second championship in the last four years. They defeated the Utah Mammoth in six games in the Western Conference quarterfinals before dispatching the Ducks the following round, also in six; then, they swept the Colorado Avalanche to earn a spot in the Stanley Cup Final.
Both the Golden Knights and Hurricanes have made it this far in the playoffs with plenty of help from their goaltenders, but Carter Hart and Freddy Andersen combined to allow nine goals on just 50 shots in Tuesday’s game. Indeed, it was a back-and-forth affair featuring contributions from top players on both teams; Jordan Staal and Shayne Gostisbehere joined Ehlers with goals of their own in the game.
With the win, the Golden Knights seized control of home-ice advantage for the series, which is slated to continue with Game 2 in Carolina on Thursday. The action will shift to Vegas for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and the following Tuesday, with further games taking place only if necessary.