RALEIGH, N.C. _ For much of the first period Friday, the Carolina Hurricanes looked like they were running in sand _ which some of the players might have been last week.
Returning from a nine-day break, the Canes were outskated, outhustled and outshot by the Vegas Golden Knights in the opening period. It was Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour's biggest fear: his team coming out sluggish and without its mental focus, falling behind.
The Canes played better after the first but not well enough, absorbing a 4-3 loss at PNC Arena.
The Canes, trailing 3-1 in the third period, tied the score 3-3 on Sebastian Aho's power-play goal with 3:38 left in the regulation. But Aho was called for a hooking penalty with 2:34 remaining and Alex Tuch's power-play score with 2:28 left gave Vegas the lead.
Paul Stastny and Jonathan Marchessault had first-period goals for the Golden Knights and Teuvo Teravainen scored for the Canes in the second. A Nate Schmidt goal in the third pushed Vegas ahead 3-1, but Brock McGinn quickly countered for the Canes.
Canes goalie Petr Mrazek, shaky at the start, made some timely stops in the final two periods in a goaltending faceoff with Vegas' Malcolm Subban. The third-period goals by Schmidt and McGinn made for a tense finish.
Both the Canes and Golden Knights were back after the long break for the NHL All-Star Weekend and then their NHL bye weeks. Some of the Canes headed to South Florida, the Bahamas and other warm-weather resorts for some sun and relaxation.
The Knights played four straight road games before the break, and their game against the Canes was the start of another four on the road. They also were without goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who was suspended one game by the NHL for skipping the All-Star game after being selected for the Pacific Division team _ Subban making his first start since Jan. 9 against the Los Angeles Kings.
No problem, at least in the first period. Outshooting the Canes 16-5, the Golden Knights spent much of the period in the offensive zone in taking the 2-0 lead.
Stastny scored at 3:52 of the first and Marchessault midway through the period. The Golden Knights took advantage of a defensive breakdown by the Canes for the first score, Reilly Smith setting up Stastny for a tap-in backdoor goal.
Marchessault beat Mrazek shortside with blistering shot from the right circle for his 17th of the season.
If there was a turning point, it came late in the first. The Canes killed off a penalty, and Mrazek made a sharp stop on a Alex Tuch shot with 10 seconds remaining in the period to keep it a 2-0 game.
Then, early in the second, the Canes again killed off a penalty _ Warren Foegele called for high-sticking _ before Justin Williams forced the Knights' Deryk Engelland into a tripping penalty along the boards for the Canes' first power play.
Only a sensational stop by Subban kept Sebastian Aho from scoring the Canes' first goal, Subban making a quick move from right to left for the pad save as Aho could not elevate the puck. But Teravainen soon scored at even strength.
Following up the rebound of a Jordan Martinook shot in the low slot, Teravainen popped a shot through Subban's pads for his 11th of the season.
Brind'Amour made forward Nino Niederreiter the healthy scratch after sitting out first Martinook and then Erik Haula in the two games before the brealk. He shuffled lines during the game, giving Martinook some time on Aho's line with Teravainen in the third.
Williams, playing his third game of the season, assisted on the McGinn goal.
