Vegas Golden Knights near helping Ivan Barbashev (49) reacts aft Vegas Golden Knights halfway Jack Eichel (9) scores against the Carolina Hurricanes during the archetypal play of a NHL hockey crippled astatine T-Mobile Arena, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. Photo by: Wade Vandervort
Associated Press
Friday, May 29, 2026 | 10:09 p.m.
Even if the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes did not basal retired arsenic the pick of the harvest successful the NHL during the regular season, they have clearly been the best during the playoffs.
Now the hottest teams successful hockey volition conscionable for the Stanley Cup.
Vegas swept Presidents' Trophy-winning Colorado successful the Western Conference Final and has won 19 of 24 games since John Tortorella took over as manager successful precocious March. Carolina has won 12 of 13 the playoffs, including 4 successful a enactment to enactment distant Montreal to scope the Cup final.
“I astir apt would springiness an borderline to Vegas, but I don’t consciousness that unafraid successful that,” erstwhile player-turned-NHL Network expert Mike Rupp said. "Both teams are conscionable playing this demonstrative mode close present that it feels similar it’s the close matchup present successful the finals.”
The Hurricanes really spell into the bid arsenic a flimsy favorite, possibly due to the fact that they person home-ice vantage and person looked particularly dominant. Game 1 is 5 p.m. Tuesday successful Raleigh. The bid shifts to Las Vegas 5 p.m. June 6 for Game 3. Game 4 is 5 p.m. June 9.
How they got here
Carolina was 8-0 through 2 rounds with sweeps of Ottawa and Philadelphia. A wakeup telephone of a loss to the Canadiens could easy beryllium attributed to rust aft an 11-day layoff, and the Hurricanes person not mislaid since.
Vegas had immoderate bumps getting done Utah and Anaheim, past had nary occupation with the banged-up and battered Avalanche. The Golden Knights will person a afloat week disconnected betwixt rounds.
“I interest about, conscionable you suffer your borderline conscionable a small bit, that’s a large disadvantage,” Tortorella said Friday. “That’s the cardinal for us. As a coach, you’re ever disquieted astir that. I deliberation our players, the radical is good, and I deliberation they recognize that due to the fact that they’ve been successful this before, astir of them.”
While Carolina is successful the last for the archetypal clip since 2006, erstwhile manager Rod Brind'Amour was captain, this is thing caller for the Golden Knights. They've reached the last for a 3rd clip successful little than a decennary of beingness and a 2nd clip successful the past 4 years, having won the Stanley Cup successful 2023.
Vegas has 12 players backmost from that rubric run.
“That feeling, you privation that feeling back,” said defenseman Shea Theodore, who has been with the squad since the inaugural play successful 2017-18. “It feels different, but I deliberation the feeling successful the locker country with the guys and however we are with 1 another, it feels precise akin to that — that radical successful ’23 — however adjacent we are, and it’s conscionable breathtaking to beryllium back.”
What to expect successful the Vegas-Carolina Stanley Cup Final
Mostly, a low-scoring affair. The Golden Knights and Hurricanes person allowed immoderate of the fewest goals of each the teams successful the playoffs.
“Both these teams support astatine a precocious level,” erstwhile goalie and present NHL Network expert Cory Schneider said. "They enactment astatine a precocious level. They don’t springiness you overmuch country and abstraction and time. I don’t privation to accidental it’s going to beryllium a boring final, but it’s decidedly going to beryllium a spot of a grind and whoever comes retired connected apical is going to beryllium the squad that tin benignant of past that grind.”
Brind'Amour's hard-working benignant has yet paid disconnected successful his eighth play successful charge. Carolina won astatine slightest a circular successful each of the erstwhile 7 but had consistently failed to get implicit the hump.
The Hurricanes person gotten to this constituent contempt not being an violative powerhouse.
“So far, it’s worked, but this wherever they tally into trouble,” Schneider said. “This is wherefore successful years past they haven’t rather breached done to the finals is due to the fact that they play specified a high-intensity benignant that it emphasizes changeable quantity implicit quality, truthful that doesn’t ever pb to goals. They’ll person the puck and propulsion a cardinal pucks connected net, but they don’t ever get large looks and high-end scoring chances and they don’t person a ton of elite finishers.”
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AP Sports Writers Mark Anderson successful Las Vegas and Aaron Beard successful Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
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