Stanley Cup Final: Tomas Hertl Is The Vegas Golden Knights' Hero In High-Scoring Game 1

RALEIGH, N.C. - We expected a tight Stanley Cup final between two smart, elite teams. We did not necessarily expect such a high-scoring affair in Game 1.

But that's what happened, as the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights took turns picking each other apart in what ended as a 5-4 Vegas victory for Vegas.

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The Carolina Hurricanes have drafted and developed a core while using trades and free agency to round out their roster, while the Vegas Golden Knights are focused less on the draft and more on acquiring players in their prime.

Meanwhile, Vegas had two shots on net.

But the Golden Knights would silence the boisterous crowd later in the period when a Shea Theodore point shot got through Frederik Andersen, who had to contest with a Keegan Kolesar screen. Carolina got another breakaway, but this time Hart stopped Logan Stankoven's attempt.

After one period, Vegas had just four shots on net to Carolina's 12.

But things shifted in the second, as early Vegas pressure led to an Ivan Barbashev wrister set up by Jack Eichel. The Golden Knights then took their first lead when Mitch Marner found William Karlsson alone in front of Andersen.

Mistakes were being magnified, to be sure.

Speaking of which, Carolina then tied the proceedings thanks to a Jordan Staal goal. He was set up by K'Andre Miller, who held the line on a weak Noah Hanifin clear attempt.

While Carolina had dominated the first period, Vegas snuck back in the second and this time it was the Hurricanes who were limited to just four shots, while the Golden Knights had 11.

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1 - With just one loss, Carolina (12-1) is the first team to reach the Stanley Cup Final with fewer than two losses since 1987, when all four playoff rounds went to the best-of-seven format.

Continuing a trend, the first goal of the third period came early with Theodore finding Brett Howden at the side of the Carolina net. Vegas was up again. 4-3, and things did not look good for the home team. But Shayne Gostisbehere got the crowd back into it with less than nine minutes to go, jumping on a loose puck off a faceoff and going short-side on Hart to tie things up.

Hart made a big glove save on Seth Jarvis late and on the ensuing shift, Colton Sissons made a beautiful backhand pass to Tomas Hertl, who made no mistake in potting one and giving Vegas the lead back with just over three minutes to play.

Carolina pulled Andersen for an extra attacker, but couldn't convert and the Golden Knights officially had stolen home-ice advantage in the series.

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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 8:06 PM.