Gostisbehere takes blame for late goal in Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup Game 1 loss

Shayne Gostisbehere gave the Carolina Hurricanes life in the third period Tuesday, but he also took the blame for its unraveling.

The veteran defenseman brought the home crowd at Lenovo Center to its feet when he blasted home a tying goal with 11:19 remaining. He was also right there for the game-winner, albeit on the wrong side.

In the final four minutes, Las Vegas’ Tomas Hertl slipped free from Gostisbehere’s grasp in the slot and snapped the game-winning goal past Canes goalie Frederik Andersen.

“He tried to shoot it and I took a breather for a second and went right to their guy,” Gostisbehere said. “And that’s how quick it could happen. Yeah, that one’s definitely on me.”

The Hurricanes dropped Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, 5-4, to the Vegas Golden Knights, but Gostisbehere didn’t drop his head after the game.

Standing in front of his locker room following the loss, he began his comment to reporters with a tongue-in-cheek retort.

“I guess there’s why there’s seven of these things.”

Still, the loss offered a lesson in how little margin for error exists against a team like Vegas.

The Hurricanes twice erased deficits and got goals from Nikolaj Ehlers, Jordan Staal and Gostisbehere. Yet a handful of mistakes — turnovers, failed clears and defensive breakdowns — proved costly against a Golden Knights team that capitalized whenever Carolina slipped.

Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said his team’s defense felt disjointed at times Tuesday night.

“They forced us into it,” Brind’Amour said, “and we didn’t handle the pressure particularly well. And sometimes there wasn’t pressure. We made a few poor decisions with the puck, and they capitalized.”

The most crucial mistake, arguably, came with 3:24 remaining.

After cycling the puck in Carolina’s zone, Vegas worked the puck from Hertl to Colton Sissons before getting it back into the slot. Carolina’s coverage briefly broke down. Hertl found space, took the return feed and snapped a shot past Frederik Andersen for what became the deciding goal.

“It’s a tough loss for sure,” said captain Jordan Staal, who scored to tie the game, 3-3, in the second period. “We got to get our game in better shape if we want to beat this team, and yeah, we’ll look at it and come back Game 2.”

Carolina entered the Stanley Cup Final riding a historic postseason run: the Hurricanes went 12-1 through three rounds, becoming the first team since 1983 to reach the Final with only one loss.

But Vegas presents a different challenge.

The Golden Knights’ aggressive forecheck repeatedly disrupted Carolina’s game and forced the Hurricanes to spend more time defending than they had in previous series.

“I thought they played this a little bit better than us,” Staal said. “They executed that game plan in regards to their forecheck... and they buried their chances when they had them.”

The Hurricanes couldn’t have scripted a much better start. Ehlers scored 25 seconds into the game on Carolina’s first shot, sending a sellout crowd into a frenzy in Raleigh’s first Stanley Cup Final game in two decades.

Ehlers added another later in the first period to make it 2-0.

And when Vegas rallied to take its first lead, Carolina answered. Staal tied the game in the second period. Gostisbehere tied it again in the third.

“We did a lot of good things tonight,” Gostisbehere said. “They obviously did some great things too. It was a back-and-forth game for sure. So it’s good to be out there and see how the series is going to be. It’s going to be a tough one for sure.”

Outside of Gostisbehere and a few other Carolina players who spoke to the media, the home locker room was quiet postgame. Players stretched on the turf area and stared into space. Andrei Svechnikov sat alone, further away from the crowd, on the edge of a treadmill with his head down.

And yet, the mood felt more frustrated than defeated.

The Hurricanes know they have work to do — particularly the top line. They also know they were one late goal away from forcing overtime.

Tuesday night, Brind’Amour spoke about Carolina’s recovery after losing Game 1 in the Eastern Conference Final. But he also cautioned against drawing direct comparisons.

“This is a totally different team, and that may be part of it too,” Brind’Amour said. “We got to get up to speed on how this game and this series is going to go. I think we certainly got a taste of that now. Similarly, we made a lot of mistakes in that first game that cost us.”

Brind’Amour paused.

“But yeah,” he added. “You can’t make ‘em. Can’t make ‘em.”