RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jack Eichel scored twice in the final 4:59 to help the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-3 on Tuesday night.
First Eichel forced a turnover on Taylor Hall's pass near the blue line, then took Ivan Barbashev's pass and went the other way to beat Frederik Andersen for a 4-3 lead.
Minutes later, Eichel — celebrating his 29th birthday — finished another feed from Barbashev to make it 5-3 with roughly 2 1/2 minutes left.
Tomas Hertl added an empty-net clincher as Vegas closed out a second win against Carolina in nine days.
Pavel Dorofeyev scored twice in the first period for Vegas, the second coming on the power play, and Brett Howden had a backhand-forehand finish on Andersen to tie it at 3 early in the third.
Akira Schmid had 21 saves for Vegas.
Carolina's Andrei Svechnikov broke through in the opening minutes with a one-timer off a power-play faceoff win for his first goal of the season, which also marked Carolina's third goal with the man advantage after a rough start to the season.
Jordan Martinook and Logan Stankoven also scored for the Hurricanes, while Andersen finished with 29 saves.
The Hurricanes were the NHL's last unbeaten team after starting 5-0 by winning the first three games of their first trip, but the Golden Knights took a 4-1 win in last week's first meeting. That was part of a 4-2-0 swing on the road, though the Hurricanes were hit by a series of injuries that pressed younger or unproven talent into the lineup.
That included defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere missing the past three games with a lower-body injury before returning for this one, only to exit after the first period with what coach Rod Brind'Amour described as a midsection issue. And when Joel Nystrom took a puck to the mouth in the second period, Carolina was down to four defensemen until well into the third period.
Up next
Golden Knights: Host Colorado on Friday.
Hurricanes: Host the New York Islanders on Thursday.
-
Vegas, Carolina playing Stanley Cup Final for the ages, and the numbers show it
High-scoring, history-making, lead-blowing hockey is on full display in the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes.
Golden Knights need improved play from Eichel, Hart and special teams to beat the Hurricanes
The Golden Knights find themselves in a familiar playoff position, needing to win two of the next three games in the Stanley Cup Final against the Hurricanes
Golden Knights drop Game 4 of Stanley Cup Final, tying series up at 2-2
The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3 in Game 4 on Tuesday night to even the Stanley Cup Final at 2-2.
VGK among greatest NHL expansion franchises even if they don't beat Hurricanes
Hockey historian Eric Zweig said Vegas is on the short list of top expansion franchises in NHL history, and another Stanley Cup should put the Golden Knights in the conversation as the best.