RALEIGH, N.C. — So much for a low-scoring game.

This Stanley Cup Final pits the best defensive team in the Eastern Conference through three rounds — Carolina and its 1.62 goals against per game — vs. the best defensive team in the Western Conference through three rounds — Vegas and its 2.38 goals against per game, not to mention the two goalies with the best save percentage in the league through three rounds — Frederik Andersen (.931) vs. Carter Hart (.924).

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After eight combined goals in the first 56 minutes, Tomas Hertl snapped a 4-4 tie with 3:24 left with a snipe from between the circles to help lead the Golden Knights to a come-from-behind 5-4 win in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final at Lenovo Center.

Ehlers strikes twice in the first

For years, the Hurricanes played with perfect structure in the playoffs, only to be stopped short by a glaring flaw: they lacked a game-breaker capable of shattering a game wide open. When Andrei Svechnikov tore his ACL three years ago, Florida swept them. Last year, the Panthers beat them again, winning in five games. Carolina needed an antidote to their playoff heartbreak, so they spent $51 million last summer to bring in Ehlers.

On Tuesday night, it took exactly 25 seconds for Ehlers to strike.

Rocketing down the ice on Carolina’s first shift of the Stanley Cup Final on a two-on-one, Ehlers fired the game’s first shot into the back of the net. By the time he buried a breakaway later in the period to make it 2-0, the Lenovo Center was in a frenzy. He became the third Dane ever to score on hockey’s biggest stage, logging the fastest Final opener since 1976 and matching a first-period multi-goal feat not seen since Al MacInnis in 1989. The Canes finally have their game-breaker.

Jalen Chatfield assisted on both of Ehlers’ first-period goals, the second on a beautiful headman chip when Ehlers cherry-picked behind Vegas’ defense. He became the 10th defenseman in NHL history to record multiple points in the opening period of a Stanley Cup Final, and the second in the past 33 years. — Russo

Off night
for the goalies

A Conn Smythe Trophy is not lost in one game, but the playoff MVP chances of Frederik Andersen and Carter Hart took a hit with equally shaky performances to start the Stanley Cup Final.

Andersen, seen as a Conn Smythe front-runner by many after three playoff rounds, gave up three goals on his first eight shots against in Game 1 and seemed to be fighting it, especially in the second period.

Andersen was also shaky in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final with Montreal before completely shutting down the Canadiens the rest of that series.

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It has been an emotional past week for the veteran goalie, dealing with the death of his longtime agent, Claude Lemieux.

Hart, meanwhile, gave up a goal on the opening shot of the Cup Final. But it’s Staal’s 3-3 goal 12:42 into the second period that Hart needed to have. It was a great shot by Staal from the top of the faceoff circle, but that’s a save all day long by top NHL goalies. And while it was probably distracting to see Nic Dowd fall to block the shot just as Shayne Gostisbehere shot it, the 4-4 goal that beat Hart short side wasn’t pretty, either.

Hart was dominant in the Western Conference final, very much outplaying his Avalanche goalie counterparts, and that was a major reason for the four-game sweep. But Tuesday night was not his finest. — LeBrun

Eichel vs. Staal

The matchup between Vegas’ top line, centered by Jack Eichel, and Carolina’s shutdown line, centered by Staal, was expected to be one of the biggest factors of the Cup Final. Through one game, it didn’t disappoint. The lines saw plenty of each other on Tuesday night, with Staal’s line coming out on top in Round 1.

Vegas coach John Tortorella started the game with Eichel, Barbashev and Pavel Dorofeyev. Rod Brind’Amour countered for Carolina with Staal, Ehlers and Jordan Martinook, and they scored on the opening shift. The line struck again in the first period when Chatfield intercepted Eichel’s pass at the Carolina blue line and sprung Ehlers for another breakaway goal.

Eichel’s line punched back early in the second period, tying the game 2-2 with a goal by Barbashev. It was a great shift by Vegas’ No. 1 center. He stole the puck along the wall as Carolina attempted to break it out of the zone, then retrieved his own missed shot and fed a pass to Barbashev in the slot. Barbashev rang his shot off the post and in for his sixth goal of the playoffs.

Staal answered with a goal of his own midway through the second period to tie the game 3-3. It was a snipe of a shot over Hart’s blocker following a giveaway by Vegas high in the zone. The fingerprints of this matchup were all over Tuesday’s game, on both ends of the ice, and that’s likely to continue. — Granger

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This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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