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The Vegas Golden Knights will have themselves a hole to dig out of Tuesday night, as the Carolina Hurricanes opened a 3-1 lead after the first period of Game 4 in the Stanley Cup Final.
Carolina looked much more like a team playing with a sense of urgency in need of a win, than what Vegas should have looked like, a team playing with the intent to squeeze the life out of its opponent by taking a commanding 3-1 series lead.
Carolina outshot the Golden Knights, 14-6, and controlled the tempo from the opening puck drop.
The Hurricanes switched goaltenders, going with Brandon Bussi in favor of Frederik Andersen, who was a healthy scratch after starting the 16 previous playoff games for Carolina. Pyotr Kochetkov was in as the backup.
The Hurricanes got things going early with two quick goals inside the first four minutes of the opening period. First, it was Logan Stankoven at the 1:06 mark, and then it was Jackson Blake at the 3:28 mark.
Stone cut the Hurricanes' lead in half midway through the first thanks to a beauty of a stretch pass from Shea Theodore, who stitched a pass across three lines and through five different players. Stone then faked, deked and slithered to his right to beat Bussi to make it 2-1 Carolina.
The Hurricanes would take advantage of a power play, as captain Jordan Staal tapped home Shayne Gostisbehere rebound from the top to make it 3-1.
Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb buried a shot at the horn, but the puck crossed the goal line just after the clock hit 0.0, leaving Carolina with a 3-1 lead.
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone (61) scores against Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi (32) during the 1st period in game four of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena.
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Carolina looked much more like a team playing with a sense of urgency in need of a win, than what Vegas should have looked like, a team playing with the intent to squeeze the life out of its opponent by taking a commanding 3-1 series lead.
Carolina outshot the Golden Knights, 14-6, and controlled the tempo from the opening puck drop.
The Hurricanes switched goaltenders, going with Brandon Bussi in favor of Frederik Andersen, who was a healthy scratch after starting the 16 previous playoff games for Carolina. Pyotr Kochetkov was in as the backup.
The Hurricanes got things going early with two quick goals inside the first four minutes of the opening period. First, it was Logan Stankoven at the 1:06 mark, and then it was Jackson Blake at the 3:28 mark.
Stone cut the Hurricanes' lead in half midway through the first thanks to a beauty of a stretch pass from Shea Theodore, who stitched a pass across three lines and through five different players. Stone then faked, deked and slithered to his right to beat Bussi to make it 2-1 Carolina.
The Hurricanes would take advantage of a power play, as captain Jordan Staal tapped home Shayne Gostisbehere rebound from the top to make it 3-1.
Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb buried a shot at the horn, but the puck crossed the goal line just after the clock hit 0.0, leaving Carolina with a 3-1 lead.
PHOTO CAPTION
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone (61) scores against Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi (32) during the 1st period in game four of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena.
Continue reading...
