Analysis:
Hurricanes assertion Stanley Cup with 3-0 triumph implicit Golden Knights astatine T-Mobile Arena
Vegas Golden Knights close helping Mitch Marner (93) falls successful beforehand pf Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield (5) during the 2nd play successful Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final bid astatine T-Mobile Arena Tuesday, June 9, 2026, successful Las Vegas. Photo by: Steve Marcus
By Case Keefer (contact)
Sunday, June 14, 2026 | 8:06 p.m.
The 2nd play successful Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final Sunday nighttime astatine T-Mobile Arena concluded aft much than 15 minutes without the Vegas Golden Knights getting a changeable connected goal.
The Carolina Hurricanes reached their archetypal Stanley Cup Final successful 20 years with a historical 12-1 Eastern Conference playoff grounds down suffocating antiaircraft performances. The Golden Knights cracked the portion aboriginal successful the title series, but their occurrence yet didn’t last.
The Hurricanes clamped down arsenic the Stanley Cup Final progressed and leaned connected the unit to clinch the bid with a 3-0 triumph successful Game 6.
All 3 of the Golden Knights’ trips to the Stanley Cup Final successful their 9 years since coming into the league person present concluded astatine T-Mobile Arena. The visiting squad has ended up hoisting the Cup successful 2 of those 3 instances.
Like the 2017 Washington Capitals, the 2026 Carolina Hurricanes seemed to fig retired the Golden Knights arsenic the Final went connected and closed connected a triumph streak.
Vegas eked retired an overtime triumph successful Game 3, but led for lone 5 minutes of crippled clip the remainder of the way.
Craziness defined the archetypal fractional of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final; dominance was the communicative of the 2nd half.
Carolina sped past Vegas erstwhile it swapped goalies from Frederik Anderson to Brandon Bussi, shuffled its guardant lines and shifted its antiaircraft rotations.
Hurricanes manager Rod Brind’Amour recovered the answers aft the Golden Knights mostly outplayed his squad for the archetypal 3 games. Golden Knights manager John Tortorella couldn’t lucifer erstwhile the situation flipped and it was his crook to adjust.
Tortorella railed against immoderate proposition that helium travel Brind’Amour’s pb and seat his playoff-long goalie, Carter Hart, for backup Adin Hill, who led the Golden Knights to their 2023 Stanley Cup triumph.
Hart can’t beryllium blamed for Sunday’s nonaccomplishment but it was different middling-at-best outing, with his prevention percent finishing astatine .869 for the bid aft allowing 2 goals connected 21 shots.
Defenseman Noah Hanifin, who was benched and perchance injured down the agelong of Game 6, contributed to putting Hart successful a atrocious spot connected the Hurricanes’ archetypal extremity Sunday.
Vegas guardant Brett Howden, who led the squad with 14 goals this postseason, mishandled a puck that Carolina guardant Jackson Blake took away.
Blake tapped it to defenseman Jacob Slavin, who recovered guardant Taylor Hall each unsocial heavy successful the neutral portion down Hanifin. Hall got a escaped look astatine Hart and roped the puck successful betwixt his pad and mitt for a 1-0 pb little than 4 minutes into the game.
A larger-than-anticipated fraction of the announced 18,354 fans successful attendance erupted. After not having overmuch of a beingness successful the archetypal 2 games astatine T-Mobile Arena past week, Hurricanes’ fans showed up successful droves to enactment their squad Sunday hoping to drawback them hoist the Cup.
They started to consciousness awfully assured aft astir of the aforesaid characters collaborated for Carolina’s 2nd goal.
Hart was near shifting the incorrect mode with astir 6:30 near successful the 2nd play erstwhile Logan Stankoven, who led the Hurricanes with 11 goals this postseason, skated past Hanifin aft beating him successful a committee battle.
Stankoven past fired a walk to Blake, who one-timed a extremity implicit Hart’s mitt shoulder.
Bussi faced respective shots conscionable arsenic unsafe connected the different side, but stood up to them.
During Vegas’ 2nd of 3 power-play opportunities connected the night, helium stopped some a rebound pat from skipper Mark Stone close retired successful beforehand and a slapshot from lethal scorer Pavel Dorofeyev’s favourite spot connected the wing.
In the 3rd period, Stone fed Jack Eichel for possibly Vegas’ highest-danger accidental of the crippled connected the powerfulness play. But Bussi lunged and the puck collided disconnected his disguise earlier hitting the post.
Vegas didn’t get the breaks successful Game 6 but besides ne'er looked similar the amended squad nary substance what Tortorella tried. Taking retired Hanifin was 1 of galore tweaks helium made implicit the last play and a half, but nary of them sparked much.
Vegas jumbled its lines but seldom sustained overmuch pressure. Carolina coiled up with a 23-22 changeable vantage contempt hardly attacking erstwhile it held a two-goal lead. The Golden Knights lone got adjacent with an onslaught aft pulling Hart for the last 2 minutes.
But Bussi stood up to it, and Nikolaj Ehlers yet scored an empty-netter disconnected a center-ice faceoff with 1:08 to play to officially fto the solemnisation begin.
The Hurricanes solved the Golden Knights arsenic the bid went on. Vegas had nary antagonistic of its own.
Check backmost aboriginal for much sum of the Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup Final nonaccomplishment to the Hurricanes.
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