Hurricanes 'definitely have room to get better' in Game 2 of Cup Final

RALEIGH, N.C. -- It's clear to the Carolina Hurricanes after Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. As expected, they face their biggest test yet in the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Hurricanes lost 5-4 at Lenovo Center on Tuesday despite taking a 2-0 lead in the first period, and so they trail the best-of-7 series 1-0 entering Game 2 here Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC).

"It's the two best teams going at it," Carolina forward Taylor Hall said Wednesday. "They're heavy. They're big, bigger than we've played. But I mean, they've lived up to the billing in a lot of ways, and they're going to be hard to beat, and that's why we're here."

In some ways, the Hurricanes can look back to the Eastern Conference Final, when they lost 6-2 to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 and won the next four games by a combined score of 16-5.

They weren't at their best at first, then bounced back and returned to dominance. That was their only loss in the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They swept the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference First Round and the Philadelphia Flyers in the second.

But in other ways, this is different. The loss to the Canadiens could be shrugged off as an aberration, because the Hurricanes were coming off an 11-day break between series. None of Carolina's first three opponents had anything close to the pedigree of Vegas, which has a core that won the Stanley Cup in 2023.

The Golden Knights are 20-4-1 since John Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy as coach March 29, and they've won seven straight.

"It's kind of similar to the last series," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "I think we got started. There was a lot of areas we didn't like in our game, and you're just not going to win when you don't play to your abilities.

"You've got to give the other team a lot of credit. They're making you not play that way. I mean, it's not just happening. We're trying, but we have to be sharper in a lot of areas. I think that's the positive. We definitely have room to get better."

Both teams do. The Hurricanes and Golden Knights each made uncharacteristic mistakes they'll want to clean up, and each had stretches in which they carried the play.

Carolina outshot Vegas 12-4 in the first period, and then Vegas outshot Carolina 11-5 in the second. Carolina outshot Vegas 12-8 in the third, but after Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis fired a puck into the glove of Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart, Golden Knights forward Tomas Hertl scored the winning goal with 3:24 to go.

Maybe it was a typical first game in which each team dealt with jitters and felt out the other, and the series will calm down and tighten up.

Then again, maybe the Hurricanes will have to become more comfortable with big momentum swings, something the Golden Knights have shown they know how to handle. Carolina fell to 10-2 when scoring first in the postseason; Vegas earned its seventh comeback win.

"You saw it in the Montreal series," Carolina defenseman Sean Walker said. "That first game wasn't our greatest for some reason. But I think if we can clean up a couple things, we can have more success.

"I definitely agree. There's going to be some ebbs and flows in the series, and (you're probably going to) spend a little more time in your (defensive) zone than we're used to, than we have in these first couple rounds. But we know when we play our game that we can dominate a series and dominate a team if we do that, so again, just tighten up a couple things, and I think we can swing it our way for sure."

The Golden Knights gave the Hurricanes a taste of their own medicine at times -- forechecking, pressuring, winning battles.

Hall said they can force you into bad situations. Walker said the Hurricanes had to be better breaking out and defending the inner slot.

"I mean, you look at most of their goals, they were scored from the inner slot there on quick plays," Walker said, "so that's something we'll be looking to shut down next game, for sure."

As it often is at this stage, the question is which team can assert its style the most.

"They're a good team," Carolina defenseman Jalen Chatfield said. "That's why they're here, right? I think for us, it's sticking with the game plan but executing. It can be helping each other out and just having better (defensive)-zone coverage.

"A few of the goals we could have been better on, and I think we know that as a team, and it's all about help, and it's all about pressure and getting sticks and being physical and outnumbering them."

Even though the Golden Knights were far from perfect, they showed their mettle. The Hurricanes must match it.

"The way they think the game, you can see it," Brind'Amour said. "They're not making plays when they don't have to, and they don't turn pucks over. It's out of their end. It's through the neutral zone. If there's no space, they're putting it behind you, and they're just staying above you, and they're doing it right. …

"I thought our first period was really good. I thought their second period was really good. I thought the third period kind of went back and forth, but they made more plays than we did. You've got to tip your hat to them, because clearly they know how to win."