Mercy, There’s That Man Howden Again: Heading Into Third Period, VGK 2 Carolina 0; Howden Scores Both Goals In SCF Game 2 Thursday
By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Holy Manitoba, there’s that man again.
Manitoba’s Brett Howden took a crafty, looping pass from linemate Mitch Marner, powered through a Hurricanes defender and fired a wrist shot past Carolina netminder Frederik Andersen on Vegas’ second shot of the game in the first period of Stanley Cup Final Game 2 Thursday.
Howden has been a postseason headliner. His goal was his 12th of the playoffs, matching his goal total for the entire regular season.
“Got in little bit of a battle there,” Howden said of muscling off Carolina defender Sean Walker to go in all alone on Andersen.
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Carolina typically scores early and then puts its opponent through a meat grinder of defense that led to 12 wins in 13 games through three rounds of postseason play.
But the Hurricanes strayed from their reputation of being a rock-solid team built on hockey fundamentals and sound defensive play in Game 1 against the VGK.
After assuming a 2-0 lead in the first period, Carolina blew the game, yielding five goals to an opportunistic Golden Knights team that seized the first game of the Best-of-7 championship series. The VGK have been road warriors, entering tonight’s game winning seven of nine road contests in the playoffs.
Golden Knights coach John “Torts” Tortorella gave his VGK squad a pregame bite of advice: “Do all the little things early. Tortorella warned his players Carolina would try to jump the Knights with a quick start like the ‘canes did in Game 1.’
Carter Hart, who entered the game with a 13-4 record and 2.33 goals against in the playoffs, stopped all Hurricane shots in the first two periods at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Knights have played superbly on the road in the playoffs, piling up a 15-goal differential entering Game 2.
“Advance the puck,” Tortorella urged his players during the first period.
The Knights suffered a major loss when defenseman Brayden McNabb took a slapshot puck in the face and had the guts to skate off the ice to get medical help. He did not return to action in the second period.
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Howden — the 28-year-old who was a Tampa Bay Lightning first round draft pick and a former New York Rangers player — scored his second goal in period 2 when he again forced his way toward the Carolina net and made a McDavid-like power move to shrug off strong Carolina defender Jaccob Slavin and slip the puck past Andersen.
It was Howden’s 13th goal of the playoffs and his tenth goal on the road in the postseason.
To watch Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final for any fans affected by the ongoing carriage dispute, all Stanley Cup Final games are available to stream in the ESPN App for ESPN Unlimited plan subscribers as well as for free over-the-air on KTNV using a traditional antenna. The games will also be available via alternate national pay TV providers including Fubo, Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV.
