Here are 3 things to watch in Game 2:
1. Aha moment from the Aho line
It's been a theme throughout the playoffs that Carolina needs more from its top line of Sebastian Aho centering Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis. The line has contributed some big moments -- see Svechnikov's overtime goal in Game 3 against the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Final -- but production has been lacking.
The Hurricanes have gotten this far, but a repeat performance of Game 1 won't cut it from Aho, Svechnikov and Jarvis, who did have a Grade A chance in the third period thwarted by goalie Carter Hart's glove save 21 seconds before Hertl scored the go-ahead goal for the Golden Knights
Overall, the line contributed five shots on goal and was burned in the defensive zone when forward Mitch Marner found center William Karlsson in the slot for the goal that gave Vegas a 3-2 lead at 4:35 of the second period.
"They've got to play in the other team's end," Brind'Amour said. "They're too much one and done and not even one, and it's not a lot of time. So they've got to get a little more offensive zone time. Kind of like that last shift they had (that ended with Hart's save on Jarvis). That was one of the shifts you could say, 'OK, there you go. That's how it needs to look.' We need them to get going."
2. Taking advantage of the man advantage
Neither team scored on the power play in Game 1, which isn't a surprise considering the success rate of the two penalty kills in the postseason; Carolina at 92.9 percent and Vegas at 88.0 percent.
The Golden Knights had two shots on goal and went 0-for-3. The Hurricanes did not have a shot on goal and went 0-for-2.
Vegas' power play is at least at 22.4 percent with a goal in 11 of its 17 playoff games, so there's confidence it could strike at some point, possibly in Game 2, to score a big goal.
"No adjustments," Tortorella said. "It's OK."
The Hurricanes are not OK on the power play; they're 12.1 percent in the playoffs, having scored in only six of 14 games, and continuing at that rate could spell trouble.
"It's definitely something that we want to fix and fix quickly," Hall said. "I don't think it was about turning down shots. It was more about execution, more about being a touch more patient in spots. We had some shots blocked, some shots that really didn't need to be taken at that time.
"You've got two minutes. I know you want to be a shooter, but with the way they're killing, they're giving us room to move the puck around and create space and we have to do that, obviously, a lot better than we did (in Game 1)."
3. Funneling pucks into the slot
Vegas did something in Game 1 that the Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens all struggled with when facing Carolina in the first three rounds; it attacked into the middle of the offensive zone and got the puck into the slot.
A key to breaking down the Hurricanes' man-to-man pressure all over the defensive zone is to keep the puck off the walls and get it toward the net. It doesn't have to be a shot on goal, but getting the puck to the slot makes a difference as it can get Carolina out of its structure.
Defenseman Shea Theodore scored doing it. Forward Ivan Barbashev scored when center Jack Eichel got it to him in an open pocket in the middle. Karlsson scored when Marner did it. Howden did when Theodore got it to him. The same with Hertl when center Colton Sissons made terrific pass to get the puck to the middle.
The more the Golden Knights can play in the offensive zone and keep the puck off the wall, the more dangerous they're going to be.
"It's been a philosophy for us throughout the playoffs getting a lot of pucks to the net from different angles," Vegas forward Cole Smith said, "especially against the defense that they play, a really structured man-on-man where they're really hard on you. So down the walls isn't always an option, they're going to try to cut those off, and then they're on you there. Any time you can reset, get some motion, even if it's off net and goes the other way, our defensemen can come down.
"It's just an ability for us to create more offense that way instead of getting shut down on the walls. It's worked pretty well for us."
