Howden continues historic surge for Golden Knights in Game 2 of Cup Final

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Brett Howden was once again putting on a show, the forward adding two more goals to his already impressive Stanley Cup Playoffs total to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 2-0 lead heading into the third period.

It looked like it was going to be enough to give the Golden Knights another 2-0 lead, this one in the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final series. Instead, his great individual outing became a footnote in Vegas’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 at Lenovo Center on Thursday.

“I mean, no game’s ever going to be easy. The series isn’t going to be easy. We knew that coming into it. That’s the way sometimes it goes,” Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner said.

Sure, but it could’ve gone better. Howden was well on his way to being the Golden Knights’ hero for another postseason game. 

The series is tied 1-1. Game 3 will be at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Game 2 was just the latest in what’s been a memorable postseason for Howden. The 28-year-old has 13 goals in 18 playoff games, matching former forward Jonathan Marchessault for the most in a single postseason (2023) in Vegas’ history. It’s one more goal than Howden had in 58 regular-season games for the Golden Knights. Howden also has three game-winning goals this postseason, matching the total he had in four other playoff runs combined.

His 10 goals on the road is tops among NHL skaters, and Howden is the sixth player in postseason history with that many in a single playoff year. Sam Bennett (13 last year with the Florida Panthers) and Mark Scheifele (11 with the Winnipeg Jets in 2018) are the only two players with more.

Howden, who had a goal and an assist in Game 1 against the Hurricanes, became the third player in the past 30 years to record multiple points in the first two road games of a Stanley Cup Final, following Nate Schmidt last season with the Panthers and teammate Mark Stone, who did it in 2023 with Vegas.

Howden’s first goal came at 13:33 of the first period. He broke away from Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker at the blue line, caught up to the backhand clearing pass Marner had thrown in the Hurricanes’ zone and beat goalie Frederik Andersen with a wrist shot.

His second came at 7:23 of the second period. The Hurricanes killed off defenseman K'Andre Miller’s interference penalty but seven seconds later Howden took the puck at the blue line and powered past Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin to tuck the puck past Andersen's right skate.

“Two great plays,” Howden said of his teammates’ work on both. “One, Mitch put the puck in a perfect spot. I just looked down and the puck was there and I felt I had an edge on him. Then 'Barbie' (Ivan Barbashev) made a great play on the second one. I just tried using my speed up the middle there and he found me in a great spot.”

A frustrating loss? Sure. One that will debilitate the Golden Knights? Unlikely. They’ve fought their way to the Cup Final and had a seven-game winning streak coming into this one. They’ll regroup and bounce back. When they do, Howden will likely be playing a big part in it.

“We’ve been through a lot of adversity this whole year,” Howden said. “It’s just another step for us to climb and we’re super excited to get back home and get to our fans.”