Rachel Barkley
Tuesday’s game was must-watch television, and while the Carolina Hurricanes fell short of winning Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final versus the Vegas Golden Knights, they did so by inches.
The first period started with the third quickest goal in the history of Game Ones of the SCF, as Nikolaj Ehlers found the back of the net in just 25 seconds. Then, he followed it up with yet another goal just a tad over midway through the frame, taking a short-lived 2-0 lead in a dominant first period for the Hurricanes. Just 1:28 later, Shea Theodore launched a shot which ricocheted off the knee of Eric Robinson and past Frederik Andersen, halving the lead before going into the intermission.
In the second period, another quick goal was scored, this time by Ivan Barbashev just 30 seconds into the frame to tie the game. From there, the Golden Knights seized the lead as they finally shook off the rust from their six-day break.
For the Hurricanes, their defense struggled against the sharp passes and quick shots of the Golden Knights. Nonetheless, their offense was still able to crack through, and they continued to find ways to score on the opposing netminder, Carter Hart.
The game became a back and forth, with the Hurricanes tying, then the Golden Knights regaining the lead, then another tie, and so on and so forth. Ultimately, the Hurricanes failed to return to the lead of the game, and with just 3:24 left in the match, Tomas Hertl scored the game-winning goal, making it 5-4 in the Golden Knights’ favor.
However, that wasn’t it for the Hurricanes. While they did not get their desired game-tying goal, an interesting decision and mere inches nearly flipped the game with just seconds left.
Hurricanes Nearly Send Game 1 to Overtime with Seconds Left
With 5.6 seconds left on the board, Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour sent Alexander Nikishin onto the ice with the goalie pulled. The strategy was for Jordan Staal to win the offensive zone faceoff and send it back to the rookie defenseman to utilize his rocket of a shot to tie the game.
The plan was great, and the execution flawless on the Hurricanes’ end, with Staal beating Colton Sissons to the puck and Nikishin launching a blast that would have beat Hart.
Except there was one issue…the left knee of Mitch Marner. The Golden Knights’ winger dashed in front of the net, and the puck just clipped his knee. It looked painful for Marner, but maybe not as painful as potentially losing in overtime.
No matter what team you were rooting for, or if you were just tuning in to check it out, it was one of the most entertaining games of the postseason.
