Hurricanes rout Golden Knights to take 3-1 series lead

Carolina scores four unanswered goals in the third period to win Game 4

The Carolina Hurricanes took a commanding 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference Second Round series against the Vegas Golden Knights with a 5-2 win in Game 4 on Tuesday night at PNC Arena. Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Staal, Martin Necas and Jaccob Slavin scored for the Hurricanes, who have now won three straight games in the series. Shea Theodore and William Karlsson scored for the Golden Knights, who were outshot 35-24. The Hurricanes took a 1-0 lead on Aho's power-play goal at 12:44 of the first period. Svechnikov made it 2-0 with a goal at 17:10 of the second period. The Golden Knights got on the board when Theodore scored a power-play goal at 1:26 of the third period. But the Hurricanes answered back with three quick goals from Staal, Necas and Slavin to take a 5-1 lead. Karlsson scored a power-play goal at 16:42 of the third period to cut the lead to 5-2, but the Hurricanes held on for the win. Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta made 22 saves. Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner made 30 saves. Game 5 of the series is set for Thursday night in Las Vegas.

The Hurricanes are now one win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference Final. The Golden Knights will need to win three straight games to stay alive in the series.

Keys to the game:

The Hurricanes' power play was clicking, going 3-for-5.
The Hurricanes' penalty kill was also strong, killing off all three of the Golden Knights' power plays.
The Hurricanes outshot the Golden Knights 35-24.