Rachel Barkley
Thursday, the Carolina Hurricanes will welcome the Vegas Golden Knights to Lenovo Center for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, just two days after Game 1 marked itself as one of the most entertaining games of the postseason.
The game is scheduled for 8:00 PM EDT.
Game 1 was must-watch television in a truly back-and-forth kind of game. The Hurricanes opened the scoring with a pair of goals from Nikolaj Ehlers. However, the Golden Knights took the lead in the second period, which was then followed by the Hurricanes tying the game multiple times. Ultimately, despite a strong push from Carolina with an empty net, Vegas took the game 5-4.
As for Carolina, general mistakes plagued their first game – from the lack of proper defensive coverage costing them goals against, to needless passes costing them goals for. It rang similarly to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens, though much better. Wednesday, the Hurricanes took the same kind of approach as they did following Game 1 against the Canadiens, going over what they did wrong in a tough but necessary footage review.
You can read all about Game 1 of the SCF here!
In the Crease
For the Hurricanes and Golden Knights, both Frederik Andersen and Carter Hart have played well. With that in mind, they are expected to start for their respective teams.
Projected Carolina Hurricanes Lines
Andrei Svechnikov – Sebastian Aho – Seth Jarvis
Taylor Hall – Logan Stankoven – Jackson Blake
Nikolaj Ehlers – Jordan Staal – Jordan Martinook
William Carrier – Mark Jankowski – Eric Robinson
Defense
Jaccob Slavin – Jalen Chatfield
K’Andre Miller – Sean Walker
Shayne Gostisbehere – Alexander Nikishin
Goaltenders
Frederik Andersen / Brandon Bussi
Projected Vegas Golden Knights Lines
Ivan Barbashev – Jack Eichel – Pavel Dorofeyev
Brett Howden – William Karlsson – Mitch Marner
Tomas Hertl – Colton Sissons – Mark Stone
Cole Smith – Nic Dowd – Keegan Kolesar
Defense
Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson
Jeremy Lauzon – Dylan Coghlan
Goaltenders
Carter Hart / Adin Hill
Special Teams
Carolina Hurricanes power play: 12.1% (13th)
Carolina Hurricanes penalty kill: 92.9% (2nd)
Vegas Golden Knights power play: 22.4% (5th)
Vegas Golden Knights penalty kill: 88.0% (5th)
Hurricanes Game Notes
Nikolaj Ehlers’ series-opening goal, just 25 seconds in, was the third-fastest scored in the history of Game Ones in the Stanley Cup Final, behind only Sid Smith (who did so in 15 seconds in 1951) and Reggie Leach (who did so in 21 seconds in 1976).
Though the Stanley Cup Final will only be available via national broadcasts, local play-by-play announcer Mike Maniscalco and analyst Tripp Tracy will continue to call games on the Hurricanes’ radio partner. 99.9 The Fan.
How To Watch
TV: ABC, SN, CBC, TVAS
Radio: 99.9 The Fan
