Golden Knights seek to ‘clean up’ mistakes after Game 4 loss in Cup Final

LAS VEGAS -- Just call it the Blue Paint Blues.

It’s a syndrome that is plaguing the Vegas Golden Knights right now, one that they need to fix a in best-of-7 2026 Stanley Cup Final that is tied 2-2.

The topsy-turvy Final is that way after the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Golden Knights 5-3 in Game 4 at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday. Vegas has now allowed at least four goals in every game and 17 through four, a recipe for disaster if it keeps happening.

For coach John Tortorella, the issue has been a simple one: an ability to clear out opposing players like Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal, who scored the winning goal for Carolina, from in front of the net, near the blue paint.

“To me, it’s not self-afflicted,” Tortorella said. “We’ve got to be stronger, and we’ve got to win that battle.”

The Golden Knights haven’t done nearly enough of that in this series. The play that led to Carolina’s winning goal by Staal was prime evidence of that.

It started when Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore had a brutal turnover when his pass from behind his own net up the gut went right to Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis, who was robbed by Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart. The rebound was flubbed around until Nikolaj Ehlers, with several Golden Knights players chasing him, corralled a loose puck and slid it over to Staal, who was alone in front of the crease and dove to chip it over Hart’s outstretched arm.

It was chaos yet again around the Vegas net.

And again, it resulted with the puck going into it, courtesy of Staal. This time, it put Carolina up 4-3 at 6:32 of the third period, a lead the Hurricanes would not relinquish the rest of the way.

“It’s not so much the turnover. Carter makes a great save, but just after that we make another mistake, we leave the front of the net,” Tortorella said.

“I thought there were a lot of good minutes in the game. It’s just, (giving one up) for free, that’s a hard one for me. … There are people there, one that last one. It was just a bit of a panic. Everybody chased it into the corner after a turnover.”

Theodore, the hero of Game 3 thanks to his double-overtime winner, struggled for much of the night. He finished minus-2 and had three giveaways, part of the 23 the Golden Knights committed.

It’s that type of sloppy play, he said, that makes you pay, pointing to Staal’s winner as an example.

“It’s just kind of a tough play,” he said. “I think we have to manage it better. We have to make sure we’re on the inside.

“It seemed like that puck was bouncing everywhere and, you know, didn’t go our way.”

He was asked about the almost two dozen turnovers his team made. The Hurricanes, on the other hand, had eight less, ending the night with 15.

“It’s all about execution,” Theodore said. “They’re pushing up. They’re aggressive with their man-on-man. So sometimes it’s not going to work out.

“We’re trying to find that space. We’re trying to get through the neutral zone a little cleaner. It’s just something to clean up.”

Then there’s the issue of goalie Carter Hart, who has been leaky, at best, in this series. He’s been beaten 16 times on 115 shots, resulting in a 3.60 goals-against average and .861 save percentage.

He’ll have to be much better when the series shifts back to Raleigh for Game 5 on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC). If Game 4 proved anything, it’s that the Golden Knights can’t recover every night if they keep getting lit up for four goals per outing.

"I think it's two good teams who are playing desperately," defenseman Rasmus Andersson said. "There's a lot of bounces, shot tips, that kind of stuff."

Which will continue to plague the Golden Knights if they don't find a way to clear Staal and his cronies from the front of the net.