Hertl's goal lifts Golden Knights past Hurricanes 5-4 to open Stanley Cup Final
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.
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