This time, the Carolina Hurricanes steered through the chaos — and it was their captain’s hand on the wheel.
Carolina, behind two goals from Jordan Staal, including a remarkable game-winner, beat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final and evened the series 2-2 on Tuesday night.
Brandon Bussi, starting in place of Frederik Andersen, made 18 saves on 21 shots, including several key stops down the stretch, and Nikolaj Ehlers added an empty-netter on a 200-foot shot, but Carolina held a lead because of Staal, who, at 6:32 of the third period, had the poise and presence of mind to fling a shot past Vegas goaltender Carter Hart despite losing his footing in the low slot.
Silence from the crowd and cheers from his teammates were Staal’s signal that the puck crossed the line. He wound up on his stomach. Once he made it to his feet, his attention turned to closing out the game, the latest wild chapter in what’s already been an all-timer of a Cup Final. Now, it’s a best-of-three.
Read our NHL staff’s takeaways from the game and relive all the action as it happened with our live coverage.