Jordan Staal scored a pair of goals, including the winner, to lead the Carolina Hurricanes past the Vegas Golden Knights 5-3 in a thrilling Game 4 on Tuesday night.
With the victory, the Hurricanes tied the Stanley Cup Final 2-2.
Staal put the Hurricanes ahead midway through the third period with a miraculous diving effort on Nikolaj Ehlers' centering pass. Ehlers added an empty-netter in the final minute of regulation to seal the victory.
The Hurricanes captain scored his first goal of the game in front of the net on the power play to give Carolina a 3-1 lead in the first period. He became the ninth player ever to score in each of the first four games of a Stanley Cup Final.
At 37, Staal is the third-oldest player to record a multi-goal game in the Stanley Cup Final after Hall of Famers Mark Recchi (43) and Igor Larionov (41).
Logan Stankoven opened the scoring 1:06 into the game. Jackson Blake added another tally 1:22 later to give Carolina a 2-0 lead.
Netminder Brandon Bussi, making his first career postseason start, stopped 18 of 21 shots in the victory. He made his first appearance of the playoffs in Game 3 when he entered in relief of a slumping Frederik Andersen, who was a healthy scratch in Game 4. Pyotr Kochetkov served as Carolina's backup goalie Tuesday.
Mark Stone, William Karlsson, and Brett Howden scored for the Golden Knights. Howden set a Golden Knights record with his 14th goal in a single postseason, surpassing Jonathan Marchessault's 13 goals in the 2023 playoffs.
Carter Hart allowed four goals on 27 shots. He's the first goalie in NHL history to concede at least four goals in each of the first four games of a Stanley Cup Final.
Game 5 is Thursday in Raleigh, North Carolina.
