Recap: The Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes faced off in Raleigh, NC for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. Carolina took an immediate 1-0 lead in the opening minute of Game 1. The Hurricanes doubled their lead past the midway point of the 1st period. 80 seconds later, Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore cut into Carolina’s lead with a deflected point shot to make it 2-1.
Ivan Barbahsev tied the game quickly into the middle frame. Minutes later, William Karlsson gave Vegas their first lead of Game 1. Carolina scored later in the period to tie the game 3-3.
Vegas’ Brett Howden continued his strong postseason with the go-ahead goal 1:21 into the final period. Carolina wouldn’t go away and tied the with under ten minutes to play. Tomas Hertl broke the 4-4 tie with a clutch late-game-winning goal.
The Golden Knights take a 1-0 lead in the Final by defeating the Hurricanes 5-4 in Raleigh. Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final is scheduled for Thursday at 5PM PT in North Carolina. (Recap by Jason)
Analysis: Carolina dominated the early part of the 1st period, then VGK dominated the early part of the 2nd period. Each time found a way to control the game in their own way for decently long stretches and both were opportunistic with their chances. VGK continued to find ways to generate chances in the 3rd period and a couple of magnificent passes from Shea Theodore and Colton Sissons set up Brett Howden and Tomas Hertl for go-ahead goals. The 6-on-5 defense was outstanding once again and VGK have swept Game 1’s in the 2026 playoffs. (Recap by Ken)
Upcoming stories from Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights vs Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center.
- 6-on-5 defense
Ken’s Three VGK Stars
*** Brett Howden
** Tomas Hertl
* Shea Theodore
Pistol Pete
Fantastic start to this series. Don’t think Canes were challenged this way so far other than the game one drubbing by MTL. Hopefully takes the wind out of their sails!
Great comeback from the 0-2 hole never trailed after that.
Still leading:
Marner 22 pts
Howden 11 G
Eichel 17 A
Torts 20-4-1
13 down 3 to go!
knights fan in minny
The boys continue the never say die attitude What an incredible Backhand pass from scissons Even better shot by Hertl One win in the bank
Pistol Pete
Beautiful pass from Marner from behind the goal line to Karlsson.
JB
Yessssssssss! The boys knocked off the rust and took over. Way to go !
rb7
great win!
they climbed the first Hertl, and now 3 more to go.
bad start, but they got it going great in the 2nd until Hanifin made his blunder pass, after Torts told them not to make east west giveaways.
opportunistic scoring by the Vgk…good down low cycling of the puck by the forwards. need more of that.
But also the Vgk dmen have to quit running out of position and giving up breakaways and 2 on 1 breaks. 3 times in the first period. fixing THAT will decide this series.
GKG all the way
KnightWatch
It may not always be pretty but once the sleepers awaken all bets are off.
They got to their game quicker, Hart a little off to start.
Once everyone settled in, we were forechecking things started rolling.
The PK has been outstanding.
They may have been 5 seconds quicker to score but we were relentless 30 seconds in the 2nd on.
Hope nothing to serious w/Wild Bill (treatment in game)
Pistol Pete
How are those Hertl detractors feeling about that “beer leaguer” now lol?
Richie-Rich
SCF G1 Analysis VGK 5, COL 4
This game played out exactly as I called it in the pre-game analysis.
The Vegas Golden Knights aren’t the Senators, they aren’t the Flyers and they aren’t the Habs. The Canes man-to-man coverage and bigger players didn’t suffocate the VGK like they did to their opponents in the first 3 rounds.
Overall, for most of the game with the exception of some untimely turnovers and that dumb pass by Eichel cross ice this game wouldn’t have been close. The lazy play by Theodore in the OZ at the 25 second mark of period 1 gave the Canes their first goal. The other goal came after what every VGK player and fan felt was an icing. Turns out it didn’t matter.
I am not taking anything away from the Canes. They scored 4 goals and at times they were able to establish good presence in the OZ.
Great job shutting down both Aho and Hall in this game.
Let’s just also say that the Hockey Gods were on our side after the Nichuskin shot glanced off of Marners left knee and down and into Hart’s right pad and off to the sideboards.
Factors.
1- The VGK has quite a few more skilled elite players. Dumb passes, turnovers (bad decisions) and a bad call kept the Canes in this one and they blocked & saved that last excellent shot by Nichuskin.
2- Hart played well, not great but he’s still the team’s single point failure in goal. If Hart gets hurt this series could be over.
3- Hertl with the game winning goal. It’s nice to see him
4- I think both teams hit iron twice in this game, but without looking at the stats it seems as though the VGK had many more high danger chances than the Canes.
5- No panic. The VGK found themselves down 2-0 but did not get frazzled and scored the next 3 goals.
Game 2 isn’t a must win for the Canes, but let’s just say that if they lose it will be a huge mountain to climb. The Golden Knights are playoff experienced and from what I have seen in game 1 the Canes simply cannot afford to lost game 2.
Vic
Don’t care about the stats and don’t want to mention anything negative after this win, and the W is all that matters. They placed a huge level of doubt on the Canes like they did to the Avs early on, which is critical.
Jumping out of the chair for Hertl is becoming a nice habit, and he is single-handedly making me forget the Not a Major nonsense forever (almost).
JoeInHendo
Great gutsy win by VGK. Had some 1st period jitters, but got to their game and proved once again why they’re the best 3rd period team in the league. Knights have to clean up their turnovers and gotta disable Carolina’s push coming in 1st period of game 2 like they did against Colorado. Also, someone should explain to ice announcer Ray Ferraro that Stanley Cup Finals are longer than the first 25 seconds, he was already crowning the Canes as champs and the greatest NHL team of all time in that 1st period. He was pretty quiet most of the 2nd period once VGK took away Carolina’s speed with their physicality. Sticking with my last 3 series predictions, Knights in 6.
Pistol Pete
Hope you don’t mind me pointing out that I like Ferraro’s color. I find him to report each side when they score with equal enthusiasm. He sure praised the VGK in 2023!
TS
Yeah, that guy was positively giddy in the 1st. Considerably more subdued after our answer!! We are gonna rock the Hockey World!!!
DeezNutz
Ok I’ve seen enough.
Moving forward I will no longer be referring to Hertl as a fat beer leaguer. He is definitely not a fat beer leaguer that man just scored us a GWG in the Stanley Cup final round and will be referred to as absolute Stallion moving forward.
That game they clearly had rust all of them including Hart (which is always my main concern with a dialed in goalie and long stretches of rest) but it didn’t take them to shake the dust off and they got better as the game went. This team just feels unstoppable right now.
This loss has to hurt the Canes a bit. They knew we were probably a half step behind from the time off as they were a full step behind against Montreal with even way more time off. They tried to capitalize on it and we spotted them 2 goals and everything and it didn’t matter in the end.
If this is VGK L’s worst or 2nd worst game of the series I think they have a real shot at you know what I’m trying not to get too excited but this team is just on one right now and it’s amazing to witness.
TS
I knew Hertl would be the clutch player he is showing us he is now. As he said post game, if he keeps playing his game, it will pay off. He has definitely earned his paycheck the past few games, scoring clutch game-winning goals. He’s not “slow”, as some said. He’s EXACTLY where he needs to be!
.
vgk21
Vgk 3rd period magic once again
Nothing could be finer than to win in Carolina.
keep it goin’
Jeffrey Sutton
Marner’s day with the cup in Toronto will be a must watch. KnightTime+ has got to send a film crew with him.
Pete Turner
Make no mistake—Game 1 was a win, but it wasn’t the standard this team is capable of. Vegas showed tremendous resilience and found a way to get the job done, but we also caught a few breaks along the way. Against a team this good, that’s not a formula you can rely on for long.
This is the time to sharpen the focus, not celebrate the result. The Golden Knights are at their best when they play to their identity: relentless pressure, disciplined hockey, and a full 60-minute commitment. That’s the team that wins championships.
Every shift matters. Every puck battle matters. Play every game like it’s Game 7. Keep your foot on the gas and leave everything on the ice. Good enough won’t be enough from here on out.
Forget the previous rounds. Forget what got you here. This is the round that defines champions. Leave no doubt about who you are and what you’re capable of achieving.
As Coach Taylor says: “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose.”
Go Knights Go!
Tim
20-4-1 not bad.You can’t hire Tort long term but a one year contract would be nice. The problem is a desperate team may offer him much more after this run with the Knights. We are so lucky to have the greatest owner and management team. What do you think winning is fun.
FG
After being down 2-0, VGK outscores CAR 5-2 the rest of the way, a very good sign. Stop with the lazy cross ice passes, and play a simple game and VGK is in very good shape. I am still in disbelief how VGK is playing after witnessing their lethargy during the season. I, like Ken, was critical of the FO for their moves, so I will stick to my day job and they are way better than me. Lauzon and Coghlan were bad, and CAR seems to be shooting high on Hart, just like Utah and maybe Anaheim did, so watch out for that. If the VGK PP gets hot, this series may be over.
Larry
Wow. What. A. Game! Who had a 5-4 final score in their playoff bracket?
A couple of thoughts and observations…
Their goalie could not be blamed for some of the goals, but overall Andersen looked extremely shaky in net, he was reacting really slowly as shots were zipping by him.
If VGK is fortunate enough to get ahead by 2 goals relatively early in the next game, I would anticipate a goalie change
Go Knights Go
VGK fan
That’s a good observation on their goalie but I don’t think he would get pulled after giving up 2 goals like you said, if that was the case Hill would have been in yesterday.
I just watched the replay of the game and saw wild bill kind of exercising both legs on the ice around the 10 minute mark, and then was worked on at the bench but he didn’t miss any shifts and was out there in the late game moments.
Frank
Excellent, excellent road game. Take away the first 10 minutes and the two early goals, and we were clearly the better team the rest of the way – out scoring, out hitting, out chancing and out playing the Canes in their own barn. Just need to clean up the mistakes a bit, but I like where we are at. Hart did not have the sharpest game (4th goal needs to be a stop), but made the key saves when he needed to. I expect him to be better as the series moves on (less nerves). As long as we play our game and limit the silly turnovers (where carolina generates alot of their offense) – we can win the series.