LAS VEGAS -- Often, when a playoff series winds up being this close, it comes down to who has the best player on the ice every single night.
In Game Three, it was Mitch Marner’s natural hat trick that helped propel the Golden Knights to victory. However, Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal has made an impact with goals in three straight games heading into Game Four. Unless the Golden Knights can find answers, that line will wreak havoc throughout the entire Finals, potentially to a Stanley Cup.
That focus has never been more apparent after Game Four, when Staal’s two goal effort put the Hurricanes level with the Golden Knights once again in a 5-3 victory on Tuesday.
“He’s killing us in front of the net,” said Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella about his team’s latest nemesis. “We have got to do a better job around the blue.”
The first period could not have started any rockier for the Golden Knights, as Logan Stankoven got the scoring started for Carolina 66 seconds in, quickly followed by Jackson Blake hitting a one-timer to put Vegas in a 2-0 hole less than four minutes in.
“They’re…just highly competitive players, but they’re super talented too,” said Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour about two-thirds of one of his top lines. “So…you have that combination, that’s pretty special.”
However, as this entire series has proven, no team is willing to stay down for long. After delivering a hit to Staal, Mark Stone found himself on a breakaway against Brandon Bussi. Stone would fake the postseason-debuting goaltender with a slapshot, then deke around him for a tap-in to put Vegas on the board and bring life back to T-Mobile Arena.
The celebration would be short-lived as Staal would get his revenge on a power play goal to restore the two-goal advantage, although Brayden McNabb nearly cut the deficit to one with a shot that just crossed the goal line a second too late.
“Just the fact that it’s happened,” Golden Knights forward Colton Sissons stated about his team giving up goals in bunches. “We got to limit that, for sure.”
The second period, however, would see the Golden Knights return some order to the game. Off of a good offensive zone entry by Marner, Rasmus Andersson would pick up the puck and circle behind the net. The play would cause Bussi to scramble, leaving him out of position for William Karlsson’s one-time shot to get Vegas back within one.
With less than three minutes to go in the middle frame, another multi-goal lead effectively went up in smoke. Taking advantage of a quick-developing play, Brett Howden surprised Bussi with a shot through the legs of Hurricanes defenseman K’Andre Miller for his 14th goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, crossing Jonathan Marchessault (2023) for most in a single postseason in Vegas franchise history.
“I feel like the whole series has been a momentum series,” mentioned Andersson about the back-and-forth nature of this Final. “If you get one, you get two, or if you’re down two, you come back and all of a sudden, you get three. It’s been kind of the same all series. When they get one, we got to find a way to stop the bleeding.”
In the third period, however, the Golden Knights’ effort would be challenged once again. Taking advantage of a turnover from Shea Theodore, Staal made an impact once again with a phenomenal backhand while falling to the ice to return the lead to Carolina.
“For a second, I wasn’t sure if it went in,” admitted Staal on his game-winning goal. “I was in my own world, and it was an incredible moment.”
Nikolaj Ehlers would seal the deal with a 200-foot empty net goal, and the series now transitions into a best-of-three.
With plenty to clean up, the Golden Knights must now regroup for what has quickly turned into a pivotal Game Five at Lenovo Center.
“There are a lot of good minutes in the game. It’s just for free,” said Tortorella about the sequence that ultimately cost the Golden Knights Game Four. “That’s a hard one for me in the third period. So we’ll regroup and get ready for the next one.”