Phillip Di Giuseppe scored the deciding goal in the bottom of the fifth round of the shootout. Brock McGinn's goal in the third round kept the tiebreaker going after Reilly Smith scored the first goal for the Golden Knights in the top half of the third.
Kruger scored his first goal of the season at 16:25 of the first period to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead. Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb attempted to clear the puck from behind the net, but it deflected off Kruger's stick and past Fleury.
"We haven't had many of those. It was obviously a bizarre type play and an unfortunate bounce for them, but a good bounce for us," Carolina coach Bill Peters said. "We were due to get a bounce, and we got one here tonight."
The Golden Knights tied it 1-1 at 1:07 of the second period when Engelland scored, but van Riemsdyk put the Hurricanes back in front 2-1 at 4:38.
Smith scored on a breakaway at 12:48 to tie it 2-2 off a stretch pass from defenseman Colin Miller.
Vegas had Kruger and van Riemsdyk briefly during the offseason. Kruger was acquired in a trade from the Chicago Blackhawks on July 2 but was traded to Carolina two days later. Van Riemsdyk was selected from the Blackhawks in the NHL Expansion Draft on June 21, but the defenseman was traded to the Hurricanes the next day.
Fleury made 15 saves in the third period, when Ward made seven.
"I thought [Fleury] had a heck of a game," Ward said. "He's a guy that I respect a lot. I've been going against him for a lot of years. He's got a lot more wins (378) than I do. It was great to see him back in the net. You never want to see a guy injured, and it was too long."
