Andrei Svechnikov broke out with a pair of power-play goals, and Brandon Bussi delivered a 23-save performance as the Carolina Hurricanes doubled up the Vegas Golden Knights by a 4-2 count at Lenovo Center. The Hurricanes are now one victory away from capturing the franchise’s second Stanley Cup.
Carolina captain Jordan Staal became the first player in seventy years to open a Stanley Cup Final with goals in five-straight games when he tipped in Nikolaj Ehlers’ pass for his sixth of the series at 11:46 of the first period. Stall joined Montreal Canadiens Jean Béliveau (1956), Maurice “Rocket” Richard (1951) and Vancouver Millionaires star Cyclone Taylor (1918) in accomplishing the rare feat.
Ehlers finished the game with three assists and took two delay of game penalties that helped aid the Golden Knights cause.
Sebastian Aho scored a fantastic goal to put the Hurricanes up 3-2 late in the second, taking a pass off his skates before roofing a shot on Carter Hart for his first of the final.
Pavel Dorofeyev produced his first two goals of the series, while the beleaguered Hart made 20 saves for Vegas, who must find a way to win on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena to send the series back to Raleigh for Game 7.