Noah Hanifin’s first Stanley Cup Final game ended with a 5-4 Vegas win over Carolina on Tuesday at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. He said the Golden Knights handled the Hurricanes’ 25-second goal and 2-0 lead without panicking, and the result gave him a first win on the sport’s biggest stage.
Hanifin’s first Final game
“The game was awesome,” Hanifin wrote in his blog after Game 1. He added, “It’s a great building to play in, a lot of fun, a lot of energy.”
Hanifin had four blocks in 21:15 of ice time. That workload came in a game that moved fast from the start, with Carolina scoring 25 seconds in before building the early 2-0 cushion.
Vegas answered Carolina’s start
The Golden Knights did not let that opening burst change their approach. Hanifin said they kept it together and did not panic after the Hurricanes jumped ahead, and Vegas kept playing through the pressure until it pulled out the one-goal win.
“I think it’s good to get that first one under our belts,” he said. That line fit the tone of his entry: the score was tight, the start was rough, and Vegas still left Raleigh with Game 1.
Big Daddy before puck drop
Hanifin also gave a look at the room before the game. “We watched “Big Daddy,” the Adam Sandler movie,” he wrote, and he added that Tomas Hertl usually has a lot of movies on his iPad.
The Golden Knights’ own routine mattered because the Final now opens with an away win, a four-block night from Hanifin, and a player who said his first Stanley Cup game delivered exactly the kind of energy he expected. Hanifin said the team would have an off day on Wednesday and likely meet to review video before getting ready for Thursday.
