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.

"I thought both teams played good defense for certain minutes, other times not," Golden Knights coach John Tortorella said post-game. "You just never know what's going to happen. I've said it all through the playoffs: it's a find-a-way league, and we found a way tonight."

The Canes got off to an ideal start, with Nikolaj Ehlers stealing the puck just outside of the defensive blueline and wristing one past Carter Hart on a breakaway just 25 seconds in.

Jaccob Slavin put one off the crossbar one minute later after sneaking in from the point, and Carolina was rolling, looking like the faster team and finding pockets in the offensive zone.

Then Ehlers broke in again, getting sprung by Jalen Chatfield. This time, the dynamic Dane went backhand five-hole on Hart, and the home team had a 2-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Vegas had two shots on net.

Tortorella, the self-described "guidance counsellor" for the players, had to send a message at the following media timeout.

"Just to settle into our game," Vegas right winger Colton Sissons recalled. "There's no panic, there's a lot of hockey left. We've proven we can come back from deficits, we just had to calm down, get to work, trust ourselves and trust our game."

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.

"We need to be patient," Tortorella said. "When you get a little antsy against that team, they can capitalize. They're that good. So we have an understanding of how we have to go."

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.

Continuing a trend, the first goal of the third period came early with Theodore finding Brett Howden at the side of the Carolina net.

"Shea's been awesome for us," Howden said. "His vision is unbelievable. On that play, he wasn't even looking at me, but I feel like he knew I was going there. He made an unbelievable pass; I just had to chip it in."

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, 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.

"I just trusted myself to make a play, and he did the rest," Sissons said. "I saw him. We exchanged lanes, so I knew where he was."

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

"We adjusted to their speed and knowing what they're all about," said Brayden McNabb. "They got a couple early, but it didn't faze us.

"Now we know: they come hard. We weren't fully prepared for it tonight, but we handled it well in the second and third."

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