The Vegas Golden Knights didn’t placed on quite as complete a performance as they did within the Western Conference Finals, but they still did simply enough to steal Game 1 from the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on Tuesday night. While the Knights’ defense starred throughout the playoff thus far, it was their offense that got the job done on the road in Game 1.
But that doesn’t suggest there weren’t defensive standouts for Vegas on this game. While the highest D-pair of Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore will get a variety of the love after racking up three points each, the second pair of Noah Hanifin and Rasmus Andersson also starred on defense.
After the sport, head coach John Tortorella talked about that pair and how they impact the sport together.
“Well, they know each other. They played with each other quite some time in Calgary,” Tortorella said. “I just think they read off of each other. I feel at that position, the hardest position to play, to feel comfortable along with your partner helps things. Just having that sort of awareness. They’ve played so many minutes together. So it’s an important pair. Killing penalties, they play together on the facility play, when our power play’s are at certain spots in it, and play a variety of big minutes. In order that they have been excellent, and they are going to must be higher as we enter into the finals here.”
Andersson and Hanifin didn’t finish Game 1 with numbers that may stick out within the box rating. Neither recorded a degree, but that doesn’t suggest they weren’t impactful. Each logged over 21 minutes of ice time, and the Knights were even with Hanifin on the ice and plus-one when Andersson was on the market, so their positive impact in a high-scoring Game 1 was clear.
The Hurricanes are sure to come back roaring back with desperation after dropping the series opener in front of their home crowd. Because of this, Hanifin and Andersson are going to must proceed playing well together for the Knights to get three more wins and secure the Stanley Cup.
The Vegas Golden Knights didn’t placed on quite as complete a performance as they did within the Western Conference Finals, but they still did simply enough to steal Game 1 from the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on Tuesday night. While the Knights’ defense starred throughout the playoff thus far, it was their offense that got the job done on the road in Game 1.