Staal among top performers for Hurricanes in Game 4 of Stanley Cup Final

LAS VEGAS -- Who played well in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final? Sometimes it’s easy to tell, sometimes it isn’t. NHL.com graded the players in the fourth game of the best-of-7 series at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday, a 5-3 win by the Carolina Hurricanes against the Vegas Golden Knights that evened the series 2-2. 

Here are the players who stood out the most.

Honor roll

Jordan Staal (Carolina Hurricanes): The captain is on an all-time heater. His power-play goal at 12:48 of the first period pushed the lead to 3-1 and gave him goals in each of the four games in the Final. Then he scored the go-ahead goal at 6:32 of the third period, reaching back to touch a loose puck and push it past Carter Hart on a scrambly play. He is the fourth player since 1967-68 to score a goal in each of the first four games of a Stanley Cup Final. The others are Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders in 1982, Steve Payne of the Minnesota North Stars in 1981 and Johnny Bucyk of the Boston Bruins in 1970. On his first goal, he won the face-off and then went to the front of the net, claiming the puck after a shot by Shayne Gostisbehere was blocked and shoveling it into the net. 

Mark Stone (Vegas Golden Knights): The Vegas captain has been exceptional as well, and showed it again in the first period when he got his team back in the game after Carolina scored the first two goals. Shea Theodore sent Stone in alone with an incisive pass, and Stone used a deke to get goalie Brandon Bussi lunging before slipping the puck between the post and the goalie’s skates at 7:22. Stone has scored seven career goals in the Final. In 100 postseason games since joining the Golden Knights, he has a franchise-record 43 goals.

Logan Stankoven (Carolina Hurricanes): The second-line forward is having a postseason for the ages. He scored his 11th goal of these Stanley Cup Playoffs, and seventh go-ahead goal of the postseason, 66 seconds into Game 4 to silence a raucous crowd. Only current Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour has scored more goals in a single postseason in franchise history (12 in 2006). Five of Stankoven’s goals this postseason have opened the scoring in a game. 

Brett Howden (Vegas Golden Knights): The forward has scored more goals (14) than any other player this postseason, but few have been prettier or more important than the one he scored with 2:52 remaining in the second to tie the game 3-3. He entered the zone with speed, drove the net to Bussi’s right and, using defenseman K'Andre Miller as a screen, threaded a shot through the defenseman’s legs and under the crossbar. Howden passed Jonathan Marchessault (13 in 2023) for the most goals in one postseason by a Golden Knights player. 

Brandon Bussi (Carolina Hurricanes): The first-year player was put in an almost impossible situation, earning his first career playoff start with his team reeling a bit after a 5-4 double-overtime loss in Game 3 put the Hurricanes behind in the series. Bussi entered that game in the third period and stopped the first 18 shots he faced before allowing a goal to Theodore. He let a two-goal lead evaporate in the second period on Tuesday, but while under duress in the third, he held the fort. Bussi is the third goalie since 1967-68 to make his first career playoff start in the Final, joining Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning (2015) and Jussi Markkanen of the Edmonton Oilers (2006).

Stock watch

Carnell Johnson: ⬆️  The man known as Golden Pipes was at it again with the national anthem before the game, bringing the crowd into it and making a 5 p.m. local start seem much later. After a stronger-than-expected contingent of Hurricanes fans tried to scream “Red!” during the “rocket’s red glare” stanza, Johnson went silent when he reached “night” in the “gave proof through the night” stanza to allow the sellout crowd to scream “Knight!” Vegas has had Johnson singing since its first season, and it never gets old. 

T-Pain: ⬆️  The singer/songwriter/rapper was everywhere before Game 4. His concert in the plaza outside of T-Mobile was a rager on a perfect Vegas afternoon. Then, he made his way into the arena and sounded the siren to start the game, tearing at the handle as the crowd reached a fever pitch just before the face-off.

Rod Brind’Amour: ⬆️  The Carolina coach knew he had to make a decision that would be second-guessed if it was wrong. He started Brandon Bussi and scratched Frederik Andersen, who had started the first 16 games of this run. Bussi’s relief appearance on Saturday was his only postseason action. It could not have been easy, but Brind’Amour did it without blinking.   

Carolina’s second periods: ⬇️ The Hurricanes have been a mess in the second period throughout this series, and it continued in Game 4. They surrendered goals to William Karlsson and Brett Howden despite allowing just six shots. It turned a 3-1 lead into a tie game. Carolina has been outscored 9-1 in the second period during the series.

Carter Hart: ⬇️ The Vegas goalie has been battling the puck for much of this series and has allowed four goals in each game in the Final. In Game 4, he was leaving rebounds and forcing his defense to clean up messes around his crease. He finished with 23 saves.

What we learned

Hurricanes have the hearts of lions

Carolina’s courage can’t be questioned. The Hurricanes had every reason to fold in Game 4, surrendering a two-goal lead, playing with an untested goalie and staring down the barrel of a possible 3-1 deficit in the series. But this team, which has not lost back-to-back games in the postseason, showed its mettle yet again, leaving Las Vegas with home-ice advantage in what is now a best-of-3 series. 

Golden Knights looking for killer instinct

Vegas could have put this series in a sleeper hold with a strong showing here in Game 4. Instead, the Golden Knights allowed a goal 1:06 into the game and fell behind 3-1 in the first period. Yes, they stormed back to tie it and put the Hurricanes against the ropes, but they couldn’t knock out the visitors. Now, the series is teetering in the balance with Game 5 on Thursday.