Penalty trouble pushes Golden Knights to brink of elimination
Derek Hegna
Host · Writer
Unfortunately for the Vegas Golden Knights, the Carolina Hurricanes would be the first team to figure out how to control a game in a wild Stanley Cup Final.
On Thursday, the situation turned dire for the Golden Knights, who find themselves one game away from elimination after a 4-2 loss to the Hurricanes in Game Five.
Game Five started out on a positive enough note for the Golden Knights. After forcing a delay of game penalty, two players Vegas desperately needed to get going did, as Jack Eichel would find Pavel Dorofeyev on the power play to get the Golden Knights out in front on their first shot of the game.
From there, however, the Hurricanes would take over, as Jordan Staal would redirect the puck past Carter Hart for his sixth goal in five Stanley Cup Final games to level the game before the end of the first period.
Despite the Golden Knights controlling play for a good chunk of the second period, it would be the Hurricanes getting out ahead. First, Andrei Svechnikov would make Vegas pay for penalty trouble with a power play shot of his own that beat Hart through the five hole. Just under six minutes later, Sebastian Aho would collect a pass from Sean Walker from his skate blade to his stick and roofed the puck over Hart to put Vegas down two.
To make matters worse, William Karlsson would take a forearm injury behind the net, causing him to exit the game for a large chunk of the second period. He would not return for the remainder of the game and, according to head coach John Tortorella, may be out for the remainder of the series.
The third would see the Golden Knights continue to pay for their lack of discipline. A double minor caused by Mark Stone would lead to Svechnikov effectively icing the game with his second power play goal of the game, pushing the Hurricanes to four goals for the fifth time in the series.
Dorofeyev would keep the game interesting with his second goal of the contest, but it would be as close as the Golden Knights would get as the Hurricanes took their first lead of the series.
Game Six at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday now gives the Golden Knights only two options: force a return to Raleigh for Game Seven, or watch the Hurricanes carry the Stanley Cup on their home ice.
