The Carolina Hurricanes handed the Vegas Golden Knights their first home loss of the season with a convincing 5-2 win on Monday night in Las Vegas. The victory marked the Hurricanes’ ninth win in their last 10 games, as they dominated the Golden Knights with a balanced offensive attack and stellar goaltending. Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves, earning his third consecutive win, while the Hurricanes were led by multi-point performances from Jordan Staal, Eric Robinson, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
Carolina struck early, taking a 1-0 lead at 4:24 of the first period. Robinson deflected a shot from Sean Walker past Vegas goaltender Adin Hill, scoring his fourth goal of the season. Kotkaniemi doubled the lead at 12:46, pouncing on a rebound from his own shot to make it 2-0. The Hurricanes continued to put pressure on the Golden Knights, and their dominance grew in the second period.
Staal’s short-handed goal at 3:45 of the second extended Carolina’s lead to 3-0. Staal intercepted a turnover in the high slot and fired a one-timer that rang off the crossbar and into the net for his second goal of the year. Just minutes later, Tyson Jost made it 4-0 after a shot from Jaccob Slavin deflected off Jost’s leg and past Hill, prompting Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy to pull Hill in favor of backup Akira Schmid.
Vegas tried to respond in the third period, and Jack Eichel helped the Golden Knights get on the board at 6:11, scoring his fifth goal of the season to cut the lead to 4-1. However, Carolina sealed the game with an empty-net goal from Jordan Martinook at 14:28, making it 5-1. Ivan Barbashev added a late power-play goal for Vegas with 13 seconds remaining, but it was little more than a consolation as the Hurricanes skated away with a 5-2 victory.
The loss ended the Golden Knights’ franchise-record eight-game home win streak. Hill finished with just 17 saves on 21 shots before being replaced by Schmid, who made 12 saves in his first appearance for Vegas. With the win, the Hurricanes continue to build momentum as one of the NHL’s hottest teams.
