Graney: Different game, same story — Golden Knights just find a way to win

RALEIGH, N.C. — It was an evening when the Vegas Golden Knights fell down 1-0 just 25 seconds into a Stanley Cup Final.

And they found a way.

When they trailed the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0 in arguably the loudest arena in the NHL. It was deafening.

And they found a way.

When goalie Carter Hart wasn’t nearly his best for parts of 60 minutes and those in front of him also had some serious lapses of play and key turnovers that led to Hurricanes’ scores.

And they found a way.

The Knights did so again Tuesday in opening this Cup Final with a 5-4 victory against Carolina in Game 1 of a best-of-seven series at Lenovo Center.

Old habits

“We just eventually adjusted and then knowing what they were all about and (trailing by two) didn’t really faze us,” Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “Now we know. They come hard. We weren’t fully prepared for it but handled it well in the second and third (periods). It’s great to get Game 1. We’ll enjoy it, reset and get ready for Game 2.”

Carolina had a 12-4 advantage in shots after the first period. They were defending as advertised. Its man-to-man coverage was ultratight.

But no matter how things might have appeared early, the Knights relied on habits that brought them to this place.

They never gave in. They just kept playing.

For it, they haven’t dropped a game in nearly a month.

They’re also 4-0 in Game 1s this postseason.

“Just staying patient,” forward Brett Howden said. “We just stayed with it and found our game.”

Knights coach John Tortorella has said it over and over as his team progressed to this point: The NHL is a find-a-way league. Vegas does so better than anyone.

It’s how it won all those games in the third period en route to a Pacific Division title. How it first qualified for the playoffs and has now placed itself within three wins of a second Cup title in nine years of existence.

“It was great again for our group to battle back,” defenseman Shea Theodore said. “We haven’t seen that aggressive play from (an opponent) thus far in the playoffs. But it shows our experience in this room. We’ve been in a lot of similar situations. Obviously, it’s never ideal, but when guys keep their heads down and keep pushing and keep playing the right way, it turns for us.”

They needed three assists from McNabb — hardly an offensive threat — to get it done. They needed all of Theodore’s three points, including blasting a huge goal to get Vegas within 2-1, to get it done.

They needed fellow “Original Misfit” William Karlsson’s score to get it done. They needed an 11th postseason goal from Howden to get it done.

They needed Ivan Barbashev to tie things at 2-2 just 30 seconds into the second period to get it done. They needed Tomas Hertl, overly tired of talking about his earlier goal drought, to score the game-winner to get it done.

They needed it all and more to weather the storm and get it done.

It’s one game and it isn’t. This place was rocking. The Hurricanes brought all the juice to start. It looked more than one-sided.

But then Theodore scored and the Knights felt some life ignite within them and here we go again. They’ll hear nothing of a split here. They want Thursday’s game as much or more than this one.

Never panic

“I think the series could go like this — a lot of back and forth,” Tortorella said. “I’ve told you guys since I’ve been with this team. … It’s a good team. We’re a really good team and I think we have a really good locker room. I think they understand these types of situations because they’ve been through them and a lot of these guys have won.

“That’s what you rest on. I have all the confidence in the world we’re not going to get into a panic mode. We may not come back, we may lose a game, I don’t know. We’re going to do it by not losing ourselves completely. There won’t be any panic in the team no matter what happens in the series.”

They never panic.

They just find a way.

They. Always. Find. A. Way.