Jordan Staal entered the Stanley Cup Final with two playoff goals. Now he has seven, after scoring twice — including the game-winner — in a 5-3 Hurricanes win over the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, tying the series at two games apiece.
Staal became the first player since Mario Lemieux in 1992 to score five goals in the first four games of the finals, and his eventual game-winner in the third period was a beauty:
It was another close game, with big momentum shifts. The Canes led 3-1 after the first period, but Vegas came back to tie it with two goals in the second — including Brett Howden's playoff-best 14th — setting the stage for Staal's tiebreaker at 6:22 of the third. Nikolaj Ehlers closed out the scoring with an empty-netter.
As expected, Brandon Bussi got the first Stanley Cup Final start of his career, over Frederik Andersen, who not only lost his starting job to poor performance, he lost a jersey altogether, as Pyotr Kochetkov backed up Bussi. Head coach Rod Brind'Amour said he made Andersen a healthy scratch to get him some rest.
Bussi gave up three goals on 21 shots, but only one he'd likely want to have back. He was confident in net and made several big stops.
Game 5 is Thursday, back in Raleigh.
My take: What a series. Every game a one-goal affair (not counting Tuesday's empty-netter). Staal doing Staal things.
THE ASYLUM
Staal carries Canes
Jordan Staal entered the Stanley Cup Final with two playoff goals. Now he has seven, after scoring twice — including the game-winner — in a 5-3 Hurricanes win over the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, tying the series at two games apiece.
Staal became the first player since Mario Lemieux in 1992 to score five goals in the first four games of the finals, and his eventual game-winner in the third period was a beauty:
It was another close game, with big momentum shifts. The Canes led 3-1 after the first period, but Vegas came back to tie it with two goals in the second — including Brett Howden's playoff-best 14th — setting the stage for Staal's tiebreaker at 6:22 of the third. Nikolaj Ehlers closed out the scoring with an empty-netter.
As expected, Brandon Bussi got the first Stanley Cup Final start of his career, over Frederik Andersen, who not only lost his starting job to poor performance, he lost a jersey altogether, as Pyotr Kochetkov backed up Bussi. Head coach Rod Brind'Amour said he made Andersen a healthy scratch to get him some rest.
Bussi gave up three goals on 21 shots, but only one he'd likely want to have back. He was confident in net and made several big stops.
Game 5 is Thursday, back in Raleigh.
My take: What a series. Every game a one-goal affair (not counting Tuesday's empty-netter). Staal doing Staal things.
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