RALEIGH, N.C. — And things were going so well for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Of course, anyone who thought the Carolina Hurricanes were going to roll over and play dead were deluding themselves.
Yet, the Knights had a chance to gain a solid grip on the Stanley Cup Final had they been able to maintain their 2-0 lead over the final 10 minutes of Game 2 Thursday night at the Lenovo Center. Brett Howden had both goals and was making a case as a legitimate contender for the Conn Smythe Trophy, which goes to the Most Valuable player of the playoffs.
Instead, that path hit a pothole thanks to Seth Jarvis, who scored 3:56 into overtime to give the Canes a 4-3 win and even the series at 1-1.
Game 3 is 5 p.m. Saturday at what will be a raucous T-Mobile Arena.
Obviously we would’ve liked to have gotten two out of here but they’re a good team,” Vegas captain Mark Stone said. “We’ll regroup and be dialed in for Game 3.
There were four goals combined scored over the final 9:40 of regulation, three by Carolina and the fourth by Stone which came with 1:21 left and Carter Hart on the bench for a sixth attacker.
In between, the Knights thought they had scored what would’ve been a third goal only to have it waved off for goaltender interference of Carolina’s Frederik Andersen. They challenged the ruling on the ice, lost the appeal and the Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal scored on the power play to put his team in front, 3-2.
The explanation from the NHL’s Stephen Walkom was: “The ruling on the play was goaltender interference. He waved it (off) immediately. He believed that it was under the goalie and the Vegas player went after the puck and interfered with the goalie and his ability to freeze the puck and waved it off immediately.”
Vegas coach John Tortorella obviously saw things differently.
“I saw a loose puck in front of Freddie (Andersen). Our players stabbed it, didn’t move the goalie and it went in,” Tortortella said of the controversial play. “I would challenge that 10 out of 10 times.”
Stone said of the play and the subsequent challenge: “It was deemed it was goaltender interference. I didn’t think it was, that’s why we challenged.”
The loss of defenseman Brayden McNabb late in the first period after he took a puck to the face also impacted the outcome. It was more pressure on the remaining five defensemen as Tortorella mixed and matched the quintet hoping to get through the remainder of the contest.
Noah Hanifin, one of those five defensemen looking to pick up the slack, said: “That’s playoff hockey. We’re in the Stanley Cup Final. You lose an important guy like that, everyone has to dig in and do their job. It’s adversity.”
When asked if he had an update on McNabb, Tortorella said: “I haven’t talked to the medical people yet. I thought the other guys played well.”
For a long while, it looked like Game 2 was going to belong to Brett Howden. The forward scored the first two goals of the contest and now has 13 for the playoffs which tied the team record for most goals in a playoff year. Jonathan Marchessault had 13 in 2023, the year the Knights won the Stanley Cup. He was also the Conn Smythe Trophy winner.
With Howden’s play throughout the 2026 playoffs, he has suddenly vaulted into the Conn Smythe conversation. But the Hurricanes’ heroics may have thrown some cold water on that notion for the time being.
Both of his goals were the result of some individual hard work. The first one Howden was a combination of strength and skill. Mitch Marner fed him the puck and Howden and Sean Walker battled for possession. Howden won the battle, came in and beat Andersen to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.
The second was somewhat similar as he outworked Jaccob Slavin for the puck, came in and beat Andersen to the short side.
“Mitch put the puck in a perfect spot and I was there. Then Barbie (Ivan Barbashev) made a great play on the second one. I just tried to use my speed to get clear.”
But as the Knights tried to nurse the advantage Howden had given them, they were almost too defensive minded during the third period. Carolina began to push and eventually the Hurricanes broke through. And as they took the lead with the three goals from Logan Stankoven, Mark Jankowski and Staal to go up 3-2, it showed they have some mettle to their game as well.
When asked what changed in his team’s play after the first 50 minutes, Tortorella said: “I have my thoughts. I’m not discussing them here.”
And while Stone bailed his team out temporarily, Tomas Hertl’s tripping penalty in OT opened the door for Jarvis to be the hero as he beat Hart from inside the left circle to give Carolina life in the series. It also means that if the Knights want to win the Stanley Cup, they’ll have to come back to Raleigh in order to do it as there will be a Game 5 next Thursday.
Hanifin said he expects his team to rebound at home come Saturday.
“We have a good group,” he said. “We had some adversity to deal with. It’s tough when you lose like that after battling back. You sit down a little bit and after a few hours we’ll head home, regroup and take care of business in Vegas.”
