Tomas Hertl scored from the slot with 3:24 left in the third period, lifting the Vegas Golden Knights past the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in the Stanley Cup Final opener.
Hertl's finish off Colton Sisson's feed from the right face-off circle broke a 4-4 tie and pushed the Golden Knights ahead in an entertaining back-and-forth start on the sport's biggest stage on Tuesday night (Wednesday AEST) in Raleigh, North Carolina.
It marked a seventh straight Vegas win of the playoffs, including the four-game sweep of the Presidents' Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche.
That series included Vegas erasing a 3-0 deficit to take Game 3, and now the Golden Knights have followed by rallying from another multi-goal deficit - this time 2-0 in the opening period - against the team that finished second to the Avalanche in the regular season.
