Peter Koutroumpis (@pksport)
RALEIGH, NC – Just one more win – that’s all the Carolina Hurricanes need to raise the Stanley Cup.
The Hurricanes’ run through the 2026 National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs has been historic, exhilarating, and filled with suspenseful moments, and that has been magnified facing an equally formidable Vegas Golden Knights squad.
Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal extended his goal streak in the Final series to five games, tying the score 1-1 in the first period of Game 5 on Thursday at Lenovo Center.
As the Hurricanes eventually claimed a 4-2 win, the marker tied an NHL record and set a new franchise benchmark for goals in any playoff series.
Support from the franchise leaders
During the second and third periods, Andrei Svechnikov scored twice on the power play, and Sebastian Aho rounded out the offense with a goal to the delight of the raucous Canes faithful inside and outside of the building and at ‘watch parties’ throughout the city and state.
Goaltender Brandon Bussi earned his second straight win, stopping 21 of the 23 shots he faced, including 11 of 12 in the third period.
With the Stanley Cup in the building on Sunday night in T-Mobile Arena in Vegas, a third straight win in Game 6 over the Golden Knights will put Lord Stanley’s ‘holy grail’ firmly in the Canes hands to raise high in triumph for the first time in 20 years.
Notables: Goals from Svechnikov and Aho added to their career totals as the franchise’s two all-time playoff scoring leaders…Bussi became the first goaltender in NHL history to make his first two career playoff starts in the Stanley Cup Final and win both games…Carolina will try to win the organization’s second Cup, the first coming in 2006, after falling behind 2-1 in the series against the Golden Knights…In doing so the Canes will become the sixth team in NHL history – and first in more than a decade – to fall behind 2-1 in a best-of-seven Final and win three straight games to claim the Cup.
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