An overtime goal from center Seth Jarvis pushed the Carolina Hurricanes to their first Stanley Cup Final win since 2006.
Over the first two periods, the Hurricanes were kicked to the ground, but halfway through the third, Carolina changed the tone of the game and walked away with a 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights.
After a rough outing for Jarvis in Game 1, he redeemed himself by netting the game-winning goal after his team overcame a two-goal deficit by scoring three unanswered goals. With his friends, the Good Ol’ Canadian Boys, in the audience, he delivered a standout performance that sent the crowd into a frenzy and tied the Stanley Cup Final at one game apiece.
“To be able to contribute to a win and help the team in a moment like that is nice,” Jarvis said. “A power play goal even more, after [Staal], follow in his lead…You never want to lose two at home. To get that one is really good for the group.”
The Golden Knights, doing everything they could to hold on to the momentum from Game 1, came out sharp. Center Brett Howden slipped the puck past goaltender Frederick Andersen twice to mark the first two goals for Vegas and kept the crowd silent for the first 40 minutes of play.
The Canes were lacking the depth and chances needed to keep up with Vegas in the first two periods. Frequent turnovers and an unusually low number of total shots on goal highlighted their struggles, making it evident that their game plan wasn’t clicking.
“We’re used to it not going our way,” Brind’Amour said. “We shouldn’t have been down one after [the first] period. We were kind of dead in the second; we took some penalties that got us on our heels, and then the first 10 minutes of the third weren’t great.”
After flipping a switch and increasing the energy and momentum in the third period, seven different Canes players recorded a point within just over five minutes of the game. Center Logan Stankoven lit the lamp for Carolina with an unassisted goal that got the crowd buzzing and put a glimpse of hope in the eyes of the home team.
Winger Mark Jankowski and center Jordan Staal each fired the puck past goaltender Carter Hart just minutes after Stankoven to take the first lead of the night for the Canes. But with 1:21 left in regulation, defenseman Jaccob Slavin deflected the puck past Andersen for an own goal to tie the game at three and play extra time.
“Great play all around by my linemates,” Jankowski said. “Huge for our line to get one, and we just kept pushing. They obviously tied it up late, but we had a lot of belief in our locker room.”
The Hurricanes travel to Vegas for Game 3 against the Golden Knights on Saturday, June 6. Puck drop is set for 8 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on TNT network.
