Game 1 winners, losers: Golden Knights' Tomas Hertl, Hurricanes' top line

The Vegas Golden Knights are not the Montreal Canadiens or the Philadelphia Flyers or Ottawa Senators .

The Carolina Hurricanes faced their toughest opponent so far in the NHL playoffs on Tuesday, June 2, and lost Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final 5-4 in a back-and-forth game.

They blew a 2-0 lead, fell behind 3-2 and twice tied the score before falling on Tomas Hertl 's winning goal with 3:24 left in the third period.

The Hurricanes, whose forechecking frustrates opponents, found the same difficulties getting out of the zone because of the Golden Knights ' forecheck.

"We didn't handle the pressure particularly well.," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said.

Here are the winners and losers of the Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final , a turnover-filled game that both coaches will have to address:

Carolina Hurricanes center Jordan Staal (11) and Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel (9) faceoff during the first period in game one of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at Lenovo Center in Raleigh on June 2, 2026.

He went through a 29-game goal drought that carried from the regular season into the playoffs. But his winning goal was his fourth goal in the last eight games as he worked a give-and-go with Colton Sissons .