- Nikolaj Ehlers scored 25 seconds into Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final
- Fastest opening goal in a Cup Final since Reggie Leach in 1976
- Read below for the video and where Ehlers’ strike ranks all-time
Nikolaj Ehlers needed 25 seconds.
Carolina’s winger beat Carter Hart on the Hurricanes’ first shot of Game 1 at Lenovo Center on Tuesday night, opening the scoring in the Stanley Cup Final before half the crowd was back from the concourse.
It’s the fastest goal to open a Cup Final since Philadelphia’s Reggie Leach did it in 21 seconds against Montreal in 1976, and it ties for the eighth-fastest in Stanley Cup Final history overall, per The Sporting News.
Catch the video:
Ehlers wasn’t done. He beat Hart again at 12:08 of the first period, finishing a Jalen Chatfield feed on a breakaway after Jack Eichel coughed up the puck at the blue line. Two strikes inside the opening 12 minutes.
That’s the fastest two goals by one player to open a Stanley Cup Final in more than 35 years. The only names ahead of Ehlers on the all-time list are Dick Duff (1963), Al MacInnis (1989), Reg Noble (1918) and Pit Martin (1973).
The Hurricanes signed Ehlers to a six-year, $51 million deal last summer after a decade in Winnipeg. He answered with a career-best 71 points in the regular season and has kept it rolling through 12 playoff games heading into Tuesday.
Carolina is back in the Cup Final for the first time since 2006, the year they beat Edmonton for the title. Rod Brind’Amour, who told reporters last week he saw no point in making the playoffs if you weren’t playing for the Cup, finally has his team where he wanted it.
It would be just the second championship in franchise history. Ehlers handed them the early lead they came for.
