The Carolina Hurricanes are one win from their first Stanley Cup championship in 20 years, and they can finish the job Sunday in Game 6 against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. After winning the past two games to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final, they now have the series on the edge of ending.
That is why Jordan Martinook keeps thinking about a moment he has replayed since he was a kid. He said he has imagined lifting the Cup over his head millions of times, and with the Stanley Cup in the building Sunday, the chance is no longer distant. It is right there, and the Hurricanes have already shown they can close when the door opens, going 3-0 in potential clinching games this postseason.
The matchup has shifted hard toward Carolina because of what has gone wrong for Vegas and what has gone right for the Hurricanes. Carter Hart entered Game 6 with an.856 save percentage and a 3.70 goals-against average, and he became the first goalie in Stanley Cup Final history to allow at least four goals in each of the first five games of the series. At the other end, the Hurricanes have been sharp on the power play, going 6-for-12 since the third period of Game 2, a run that has helped them build the lead they carry into Sunday.
Vegas still has a path, but it is a narrow one. The Golden Knights need consecutive wins to force a Game 7, something they have not had to chase since mid-January because they had not lost two in a row since then. They will have to do it without William Karlsson, who will not play after sustaining what appeared to be a left arm injury in the second period of Game 5. He has four points in the series and nine in 15 playoff games, and his absence strips away one of their strongest defensive forwards and a key piece of the penalty kill.
Brayden McNabb called it what it is: an opportunity. Mitch Marner said the Golden Knights have played good hockey at times but not a full 60 minutes often enough, and that they need to attack right away instead of sitting back. The numbers say the history is still on Carolina’s side, too: teams holding a 3-2 lead in a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final are 27-18 in Game 6, including 8-2 since 2012. Sunday gives the Hurricanes the chance to end it on their terms, and gives Vegas its first test of survival in the series.
