The Golden Knights overcame a first-period 2-0 deficit, including a goal 25 seconds in, and stole the home-ice advantage by winning Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday, 5-4, over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Tomas Hertl scored his fourth goal of the postseason with 3:24 left in the game to break a 4-4 tie and move the Knights closer to their second Stanley Cup title since 2023.

"We didn't have our greatest start, but it's kind of our story all season," Hertl said during the postseason television broadcast. "But we never give up, you know. We just a team. It doesn't matter if we up or down, we just keep playing."

Hertl took Colton Sissons' backhanded pass to the slot and sniped Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen to put Vegas ahead.

It marked just the second time Andersen allowed more than two goals in game, as he allowed five to Montreal in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final. The 6-2 setback was the Hurricanes' only postseason loss before Tuesday night.

Shea Theodore, Ivan Barbashev, William Karlsson and Brett Howden also scored for Vegas, while netminder Carter Hart stopped 23 shots.

Nikolaj Ehlers gave the Hurricanes an early 2-0 lead before Theodore fanned Carolina's flames, cutting the lead in half to 2-1, where the score stood as the teams went into the locker room after the first period.

Just after the opening puck drop, Ehlers poked the puck off the boards in the defensive zone, gathered it and raced down the left side past Theodore.

Ehlers, who came into the Cup final with a team fourth highest nine points in the postseason, fired far side past Vegas goalie Carter Hart to give Carolina a 1-0 lead just 25 seconds in.

"Yeah, I mean, you don't know exactly what to expect, it's the first game, the building was already buzzing," Ehlers said in between periods on the television broadcast. "But that for sure, that was pretty cool. That was special. That definitely gave the arena a little more juice."

Ehlers got his second goal when he grabbed a cross-ice pass from Jalen Chatfield, who intercepted Jack Eichel's pass, raced in untouched and once again beat Hart.

The Knights got on the board when Theodore's long blast from the right point got through traffic and appeared to deflect off Andersen's leg.=

"They are a really good team," Ehlers added. "They play hard, they play fast, they got a lot of skill players."

Ehlers' words rang true in the second period, as the Golden Knights scored 30 seconds in when Barbashev took a pass from Eichel and beat Andersen from a soft spot in the top of the left circle.

Karlsson gave the Knights a 3-2 lead moments later when he was positioned perfectly to one-time Mitch Marner's pass in front of the net.

The stunned crowd came back to life when Carolina's Jordan Staal when the Knights failed to clear the zone and took advantage of a giveaway by Noah Hanifin. Staal's shot went high over Hart's blocker to tie the game at 3-all.

"For us, it's pretty simple, we got to get punch deep and play in their zone and create stuff from there that kills their offense," Ehlers said.

Howden scored his 11th goal of the postseason - his eighth on the road - just 1:21 into the third period, but the Hurricanes would tie game midway through the stanza when Shayne Gostisbehere sniped Hart from the left circle.

Both teams were unsuccessful with their power plays, with Carolina finishing 0 for 2 and Vegas missing three times.

Vegas Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl (48) celebrates scoring during the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes in game one of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at Lenovo Center.