The Carolina Hurricanes sit one win away from their second Stanley Cup after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 in Game 5.
Pavel Dorofeyev opened the scoring on the power play after a perfect seam pass by Jack Eichel, his first goal in 11 games. It was a much-needed strike for Vegas’ power play, as it had only found the back of the net once before tonight.
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It took the Hurricanes all of five minutes to respond, with Jordan Staal deflecting a Nikolaj Ehlers pass into the yawning cage. Staal finds himself in the midst of a historic hot streak and is the first player to score in the first five games of a Stanley Cup Final since Jean Béliveau in 1956.
Carolina’s power play continued its dominance in the second as Andrei Svechnikov fired a wrist shot five-hole past Carter Hart. The 27-year-old has had a Final to forget, becoming the first goalie in NHL history to allow four or more goals in the first four games of a Stanley Cup Final.
Only four minutes later, Sebastian Aho tallied his first of the series to give Carolina a 3-1 lead. The goal came off a turnover forced by the persistent forecheck of Jordan Martinook.
Mark Stone took an uncharacteristic double-minor with 11 minutes to go, giving Carolina’s red-hot power play an extended look. Svechkikov buried his second of the game off a perfect backdoor feed from Ehlers, giving Carolina a 4-1 lead.
Dorofeyev scored his second of the game with six minutes to go, but it wasn’t enough to rally a Golden Knights comeback.
Game 6 is in Vegas on Sunday as the Golden Knights look to avoid elimination at home.
