FILE - Carolina Hurricanes center Seth Jarvis (24) and Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mitch Marner (93) go for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Oct. 28, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward, file)

RALEIGH, N.C. — Tomas Hertl took a backhand pass from Colton Sisson and beat Frederik Anderson from the slot with 3:24 left in the third period, lifting the Vegas Golden Knights past the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in Tuesday night’s opener of the Stanley Cup Final.

Hertl’s finish off Sisson’s feed from the right faceoff 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. It marked Vegas’ seventh straight win of the playoffs, starting with the last two games of the six-game second-round series against Anaheim and then the shocking 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 multigoal deficit — this time 2-0 in the opening period — against the team that finished second only to the Avs in the regular season.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday in Raleigh, with Vegas already having taken home-ice away from the Hurricanes as it chases a second Cup title in four seasons.

Shea Theodore, Ivan Barbashev, William Karlsson and Brett Howden also scored for Vegas, with Howden’s postseason-leading 11th score giving the Golden Knights a 4-3 lead just 1:21 into the third period. Carter Hart finished with 23 saves.

Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice for the Hurricanes, the first coming 25 seconds into the game when he got loose and a rush and blasted one past Hart from the left side on the game’s first shot. He followed with a breakaway that gave Carolina a 2-0 lead and sent a charged home crowd into an eruption in the team’s first Stanley Cup Final game in two decades.

Jordan Staal and Shayne Gostisbehere each scored tying goals after Vegas had pushed to a lead, with Gostisbehere skating in clean on the left side to blast one past Hart at 11:19 of the third period and tie it once more at 4.

The Hurricanes went 12-1 through three rounds to get back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since coach Rod Brind’Amour captained them to the title in 2006.

It also comes amid an eight-year playoff streak that has included at least one series win every time as a regular postseason contender.

Blackout

Many DirecTV viewers hoping to watch Game 1 received a message saying the contract with Scripps has expired.

The message also directed viewers interested in the Stanley Cup Final or NBA Finals to the ESPN, Hulu or Disney+ apps.

“Scripps is demanding the highest rates DIRECTV has ever received from a station group, which would continue to dramatically raise costs for consumers and businesses already struggling with affordability,” DirecTV posted on social media. “After DIRECTV declined those demands and sought a more reasonable agreement, Scripps chose to remove its stations from viewers in several major markets nationwide.”

DirecTV said 54 local stations and 36 markets, including Las Vegas, were affected. Baltimore, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Kansas City, Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Tampa-St. Petersburg were among the other markets.

Scripps CEO Adam Symson, in an interview with Awful Announcing, blamed DirecTV’s management.

“They’re run by private equity,” Symson told the website. “They have MBAs running the numbers. They are screwing with the consumer and what the consumer actually wants to watch, which is broadcast television, local journalism, and local sports.”