Nikita Kucherov Wins 2026 Hart Trophy
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov has been named the 2026 Hart Trophy Winner, the annual award for the top player in the National Hockey League. The honors were announced this evening on ESPN’s “The Point” prior to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Awarded to the player selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers Association in all NHL cities upon the end of the regular season, Kucherov takes home the MVP for the second time in his career, the first coming in 2019. The soon-to-be 33-year-old beat out other finalists Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid.
Kucherov continues to produce at an incredible level, coming away second in the league with 130 points (44 goals, 86 assists) in 76 regular season games. Dishing out an absurd number of helpers, he always evoked fear in goaltenders when opting to look toward the net instead, shooting at a 19.0% clip, with 44 goals as eighth highest in the NHL. The Russian winger’s 1.71 points-per-game stands out as the league best out of qualified players, and on that rate, had he not missed six contests Kucherov would have been on track to surpass the first ranked McDavid’s 138 points in 82 games. The fourth straight season in which he recorded at least 80 assists, the winger came away second behind McDavid in that category.
Based on those metrics, Kucherov stood out to voters after a 2025-26 where he helped carry the Lighting through what was an injury-riddled campaign along their way to 50 wins.
More to come…
Carolina Hurricanes Recall Amir Miftakhov
According to the AHL transactions log, the Carolina Hurricanes have recalled netminder Amir Miftakhov from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. The roster move comes a few hours before the Hurricanes play the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, and a day before the Wolves begin the Calder Cup Final against the Toronto Marlies.
The news is surprising for several reasons. For one, Carolina already has three goaltenders on the active roster, without any public injury updates.
Carolina had been using Frederik Andersen for most of the playoffs, and for good reason. The 36-year-old netminder was nearly unbeatable through the Eastern Conference Final, managing a 12-1-0 record in 13 games with a .931 SV%. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case in the Stanley Cup Final, with Andersen owning a 1-1-0 record through three games with a .815 SV%.
In Game 3, Andersen was hit in the head by Ivan Barbashev, causing him to miss Game 4 entirely. Carolina indicated that Andersen was being held out for “maintenance”, but there’s some belief that he’s dealing with a concussion. Today’s recall of Miftakhov strongly suggests that this is the case.
Bussi wasn’t sensational in Game 4 by any stretch, though it was enough to earn the win. Assuming the status quo remains the same, Bussi will be in the starter’s crease tonight, with Pyotr Kochetkov backing him up. If Andersen is dealing with a concussion, Miftakhov would presumably be the emergency backup netminder.
Darnell Nurse Requests Trade To Move On From Oilers
4:30 p.m.: According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, Nurse has submitted a list of three to five teams that he would accept a trade to. Pagnotta added that the Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins are believed to be on that list.
1:10 p.m.: According to a report by Elliotte Friedman, Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse has gone to the organization to request a trade out of Edmonton, as first reported by Marc Spector.
Friedman also reports that Nurse has a 3-5 team list that he would consider. He also has the right to limit the number of legit destinations. Originally, it was said that Oilers GM Stan Bowman would be speaking with Edmonton’s alternate captain within this timeframe to discuss his future; however, if he said he wants to be an Oiler for another season, then trade talk would be halted, and the team would welcome him back for one more year.
Nurse, who currently holds a full no-movement clause on his contract until the end of the 2026-27 season before it moves to a 10-team no-trade list in 2027-28, is ready to be dealt away as soon as possible by the Oilers. The 31-year-old finished his 2025-26 season scoring seven goals for 24 points in his fifth 80+ game season of his NHL career. He amassed over 100 penalties in minutes, by far the most in his career, and a 32 PIM increase from last season. Nurse also finished with the worst goals percentage of his career since exiting his entry-level contract at 44.4%.
Edmonton originally extended Nurse for the start of the 2022-23 season to an eight-year deal at $74MM ($9.25MM AAV) when he was 26, coming off a career-high 43 points in 82 games in 2020-21, which saw him rank second in goals by a defenseman in the NHL that season, with his 16 tallied only two behind Arizona’s Jakob Chychrun. Entering year five of eight, he has three years left before the deal expires, when he will be 35 years old. While they’re set to bring in a potential new head coach in Mike Babcock, they’ll have to part ways with one of their longest-tenured players ever, who’s seventh in all-time games played, with 798.
The former seventh overall pick by the Oilers in the 2013 NHL Draft has never inked a contract elsewhere. Nurse signed his entry-level contract in July of 2013, with a salary of $863.3K a season starting in 2015-16, when he saw his first full season of NHL play. After those five years, he signed a two-year, bridge deal at $6.4MM ($3.2MM AAV). Ending as an RFA in 2020, he kept the years the same on his next deal, with an increased value of $11.2MM ($5.6MM AAV) before signing his current contract that the Oilers appear eager to get off their books.
Even with the NHL cap hit rising to $104MM, Nurse’s payment, similar to that of a top-pair defenseman, hasn’t proved worthy of that cap hit. His hockey sense has seen a lack of translation to some notably questionable reads in high-pressure situations. Having made back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals in 2024, the coaching staff had slowly dropped Nurse’s ice time and considered scratching him, per Spector’s report. So much so, he ranked last among the seven Oilers defenders who played in that series, averaging just 15:51 of ice time per game.
In a trade, it’ll be likely that teams will look for the Oilers to take on a portion of the $9.25MM cap hit that he’s owed for four more years in the event a deal is agreed upon. Regardless, Edmonton will free up more money that will add to the team’s current cap space of around $14.6MM as it stands this summer with eight unrestricted free agents and two restricted free agents, notably from the team’s main roster.
Photo Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Kings Sign Martin Chromiak To One-Year Extension
According to a team announcement, the Los Angeles Kings have signed Martin Chromiak to a one-year, two-way extension. Los Angeles included that Chromiak will earn an $850K salary at the NHL level.
Chromiak, 23, was a fifth-round pick by the Kings back in the 2020 NHL Draft. He split his draft season between the Slovakian professional leagues and the OHL, scoring five goals and six points in 32 games with the HK Dukla Trencin, and 11 goals and 33 points in 28 games for the Kingston Frontenacs.
During the 2020-21 campaign, he spent the entire year in Slovakia, again with HK Dukla Trencin, improving his output to seven goals and 19 points in 32 contests. The following season, the Kings agreed to a full transition to North America, spending the entire year with the Frontenacs. Chromiak was exceptional, registering 44 goals and 86 points in 60 games.
After that season, Los Angeles felt he was ready to make the jump to the professional ranks, adding him to the AHL Ontario Reign for the 2022-23 campaign. Since then, he’s continued to improve, topping out with a 28-goal, 56-point performance in 71 games for the Reign this past season.
The Kings don’t have a lot of top prospects, but they do have a decent crop of forwards looking to compete for bottom-six roles next season. Several of them are ahead of Chromiak on the depth chart, but he could become the first man up early next season if he continues his positive trajectory.
Updates on Hischier, Gritsyuk From Devils GM Sunny Metha
According to Devils General Manager Sunny Metha, the Devils should feel encouraged about two key players regarding their futures in New Jersey.
Metha, at a season ticket holder Q&A event, was asked for an update on the status of both Nico Hischier and Arseny Gritsyuk and where their extensions were at between both the team and player camps. He established that he is ‘pretty encouraged by developments on both those fronts.’
First off, Hischier, as previously understood by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, was in the right direction regarding the extension of the Devils’ former No. 1 overall pick from the 2017 NHL Draft. While he was competing in and for his home country of Switzerland at the 2026 IIHF World Championships, his agent, Allain Roy, made a pit stop to meet with the Devils’ new general manager about Hischier and his future in red and black.
Metha, who had been with New Jersey as their Director of Analytics when the Devils drafted Hischier, revealed he’s spoken with his agent and Hischier himself multiple times in his short tenure as GM since LeBrun’s rumblings. The 27-year-old has a year left on his current contract, which was a seven-year deal signed back in 2020-21, and will ultimately add up to $50.75MM ($7.25MM AAV) in earnings at the end of this upcoming season. He finished last year scoring 28 goals for 66 points in his first 82-game season since his rookie campaign in 2017. Playing 400 games total on this particular contract, he’s amassed 353 points and has seen two playoff runs in 2023 and 2025, adding 11 points in 17 postseason games.
On the subject of Gritsyuk, from a report by James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now, both sides are progressing towards a multi-year extension, which, in the case of the rookie, is what his camp prefers.
The 25-year-old Russian finished his first NHL season, giving New Jersey the depth scoring it needed. His 13 goals for 31 points in 66 games nearly produced a half a point per game pace. He was first on the entire 2025-26 Devils roster in cost-per-point, averaging $30K for every tally on the scoresheet, and ended up fourth on the team in relative expected goals for%.
Gritsyuk ideally wants more than two years on his second NHL contract, which comes quickly after his first North American deal as a one-year, entry-level contract paying $925K. The Devils’ forward group has an intriguing future outlook, with mainstay players like Timo Meier, Jack Hughes, and Jesper Bratt all inked to long-term deals through 2031. However, Hischier is a part of six out of the remaining eight forward contracts listed that all end in 2027-28 (aside from Connor Brown, whose $3MM cap hit goes until 2030, and Lenni Hameenaho, a 21-year-old, who has two years on his entry-level contract at $972.5K a season).
If Metha’s encouragement leads to multi-year extensions for both Hischier and Gritsyuk, it would be a huge step forward for the new GM as he enters his first offseason behind the wheel in New Jersey. The Devils hold around $10.9M in cap space this offseason and have around $46MM in cap space to work with on the average salary of Hischier’s new contract, which would kick in next summer before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Afternoon Notes: Tuch, Andersson, Kraken Hires
According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Alex Tuch appears more likely to be heading to the open market.
The 30-year-old winger ended his 2025-26 season scoring 33 goals for 66 points in 79 games played with the Buffalo Sabres. In the final season of his current contract, fifth in Buffalo, the Syracuse, NY native added seven points in 13 playoff games to cap off his seven-year, $33.25MM ($4.75MM AAV) contract. Back at the Sabres breakup day, Tuch said he had an interest in returning to Buffalo, and general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen expressed that he wants him back in exit interviews. Contract talks were put on hold during the playoffs, but it appears as though things aren’t promising for a reunion.
LeBrun referenced two recent eight-year extensions in comparison to this situation with Nick Schmaltz‘s $64MM ($8MM AAV) deal with the Utah Mammoth, which will end when he turns 38, and the $85MM ($10.625MM AAV) deal with Adrian Kempe staying in Los Angeles till he is 37. He thinks the Sabres GM doesn’t see Tuch as a double-digit valued player.
Additional notes:
- Shayna Goldman of The Athletic dissected Rasmus Andersson‘s current situation and his ability to cash in. Goldman referred to other players who have a key similar attribute to Andersson, like Jacob Trouba, Connor Murphy, Andrew Peeke, Connor Clifton, Dylan Coghlan, etc; they’re right-handed. Aside from Darren Raddysh, whose 70 points in 73 games this season had a UFA defenseman’s best $14K cost-per-point, Andersson is listed as the only other shiny option among those rare options within their primes but noted that given Andersson’s lackluster Stanley Cup Final performance, he could be a risky bet for a team to pay for on the open market. His average annual market value is as low as $6.8MM and as high as $9.65MM, per Evolving-Hockey.
- The Seattle Kraken have hired two assistants to the young-franchise’s front office and bench. They announced they’re bringing on former Vancouver Canucks GM Patrik Allvin, who was a 2024 finalist for NHL GM of the Year in that role, and Pascal Vincent, who, for the last two years, has been head coach for the Laval Rocket, where he won his second AHL Coach of the Year in 2025. Allvin, 51, joins forces with current Kraken GM and Executive VP of Hockey Operations Jason Botterill. Both spent 10 years together in Pittsburgh, including a Stanley Cup victory in 2009 and back-to-back Cup wins in 2016 and 2017 while Botterill was assistant GM. Vincent, 54, was an NHL assistant coach for seven seasons, five with the Winnipeg Jets (2011 to 2016), two with the Columbus Blue Jackets (2021 to 2023), where he also served one year as their head coach in 2023-24.
Morning Notes: Larkin, Kuefler, Hurricanes
Dylan Larkin is believed to be entertaining three popular trade destinations after requesting a move from the Detroit Red Wings. Not being on his initial list won’t stop other teams from calling on the top center, though. Always involved in trade buzz, the Dallas Stars are believed to have checked in on Larkin’s trade price per EliteProspects’ Sean Shapiro.
In what would feel like the antithesis to Mike Modano‘s heralded move to Detroit in 2010 in many ways, Dallas could muster a package rich enough to land Detroit’s star forward of the last decade. Larkin has routinely rivaled 70 points, with strong defensive performances, over each of the last five seasons. His consistency – and potential for even more in a strong offense – will make him an expensive asset for the rebuilding Red Wings. Dallas may need to part with promising youngsters like Lian Bichsel, Thomas Harley, or Emil Hemming in the name of bolstering Detroit’s future. In return, they would land a strong successor for the aging Tyler Seguin and Matt Duchene. Larkin is signed to a manageable $8.7MM cap hit through the 2030-31 season, which would align with potential-battery mate Roope Hintz‘s contract.
Larkin would need to approve of any trade but Dallas proved their ability to pull off blockbusters with their acquisiton of Mikko Rantanen. They will be a notable team to follow as the saga around Larkin’s move grows.
Other notes from around the league:
- The New York Islanders have signed AHL forward Daylan Kuefler to a two-year, two-way contract extension per NHL.com’s Stefen Rosner. The deal will carry an $850K salary in the NHL and $105K salary in the AHL in year-one, then grow to a $900K salary in the NHL and $125K salary in the AHL in year-two per Rosner. $290K of that salary will be guaranteed. This deal marks a tidy bit of assurance for the third-year pro. This year marked Kuefler’s first full season with the Bridgeport Islanders. He finished the season with 25 points and 64 penalty minutes in 67 games. He will likely hang onto a depth role in the AHL lineup as he grows into a leading role on the newly-unveiled Hamilton Hammers.
- Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen took the practice sheet and was announced as “available” for Game 5, per ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski. Despite that, the Hurricanes seem set to keep Brandon Bussi and Pyotr Kochetkov as their tandem after a Game 4 win. Bussi has stopped 36 of the 40 shots he has faced since replacing Andersen partway through Game 3. The decision came after Andersen paved over the first three rounds, marked by 13 wins and a .910 save percentage in 16 games. It seems the hot hand will hold favor in the Hurricanes net, though. Until Bussi struggles, Andersen’s action may be limited to the practice sheet.
Bruce Cassidy Would Entertain Any NHL Head Coach Role
Not even an electric Stanley Cup Finals has been enough to keep the Vegas Golden Knights from pushing for an advantage over the rest of the league. Amid one of the most energetic coaching wires in recent memory, Vegas is exercising their right to prevent recently-fired head coach Bruce Cassidy from interviewing for other jobs. The NHL has raised no issue with Vegas’ approach, pointing out that Cassidy would forfeit the $5MM his multi-year contract with Vegas promised him for the 2026-27 season by interviewing for another role. That money might not be an obstacle for the former Stanley Cup winner, though. In speaking with The Athletic, Cassidy shared that he simply wants to get back to work and would welcome the chance to fill any head coach role.
This will be prominent news for the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs, the NHL’s only current coaching vacancies. Both clubs are in need of a leader after spinning their tires for the last few seasons. With the pressure of star-studded lineups, both clubs have also turned towards surprising ideas to try and bring in a difference-maker. Edmonton has kicked off a league investigation with their interest in former Leafs head coach Mike Babcock, who resigned from his most recent coaching role before coaching a single practice. The Maple Leafs are looking towards the other side of experience, interviewing 2024 retiree Joe Pavelski who spent last season coaching 15U hockey in Wisconsin. As shocking as both ideas are, they could each have merit, as Edmonton looks to strong-arm a Stanley Cup win while Toronto tries to kickoff a new era.
A free agent like Cassidy may be too great to ignore. The 61-year-old head coach is a two-time Jack Adams Trophy finalist and one-time winner. He has continued to stock his trophy cabinet over the last three years, winning the 2023 Stanley Cup, 2025 4-Nations Face-Off, and supporting a Silver medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics. More than his accolades, Cassidy’s proof is in the results. After missing out despite a winning record in his first year coaching in the AHL, Cassidy has led every single team has helmed to the postseason. That includes four trips to the Calder Cup Playoffs and nine trips to the Stanley Cup Playoffs – a mark that would have grown to 10 had Vegas retained his role for eight more games.
Cassidy’s clubs have made it by the first-round in eight of those 13 playoff runs. He made his first run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2019, only to be disappointed by a fate-struck St. Louis Blues club. That mistake didn’t repeat itself when he returned to the 2023 Finals. Through the regular season, Cassidy has combined for a 373-173-72 record in the NHL – or an 82-game average of 50-23-9. He has reached those marks on strong Boston Bruins and Golden Knights clubs and should only reach higher heights with the strength of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl or Auston Matthews and, potentially, Gavin McKenna.
That potential should be enough to keep both Canadian clubs patient for a few more weeks. The Stanley Cup Finals will end by June 17th, at the latest, and Cassidy could choose to forfeit his promised salary in the name of a new role soon after that. He would be far-and-away the top option on a coaching market pulling in names from hockey past, present, and future.
Kings’ Drew Doughty Eyeing Extension, Captaincy
The Los Angeles Kings let go of a franchise legend when captain Anze Kopitar announced his retirement following the 2025-26 season. The Kings also face an expiring contract for their next-longest tenured player: defenseman Drew Doughty, whose current deal is set to end in 2027. Signing Doughty to an extension could help Log Angeles address two issues at once – securing a captain for a few seasons while walking the 36-year-old Doughty to retirement. General manager Ken Holland said that the Kings have initially discussed Doughty’s next extension but isn’t pressured to get something done per Alexander Legget of Mayor’s Manor.
The 2025-26 season marked a down year for Doughty. His 23 points in 72 games was a career-low scoring pace and a major step down from Doughty’s 82-game average of 12 goals and 53 points over the prior four seasons. What was meant to be a year centered around the Winter Olympics didn’t shine overseas either, with Doughty leaving the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics with just one assist and a Silver medal.
Still, there is no denying Doughty’s place in Los Angeles’ lineup. The veteran defender holds the Kings’ record for most games played (1,279 regular-season, 105 playoffs) and points (709 regular-season, 61 playoffs) in both the regular season and playoffs by a defenseman. Much of his company in the Kings records books – including forwards Anže Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Dave Taylor, and Luc Robitaille – all retired in Los Angeles following long careers in the NHL. Doughty would be the natural next-up to ride into the L.A. sunset, though he’ll need a resurgence in the 2026-27 season to force Holland’s hand.
Donning the captaincy would also support Doughty’s case for a new deal. He told reporters in his 2026 exit interview that the captaincy would “mean the world”. There is a thin shortlist of candidates to succeed Kopitar’s tenure with the letter. Quinton Byfield will assume Kopitar’s role at top-center and could be the center-piece of the team’s next era, if he succeeds. Kings veterans and alternate captains Adrian Kempe and Michael Anderson could also earn the nod after years with the club. But neither the promise of future responsibility, nor robust veteran experience, could outweigh Doughty’s case as a Kings legend. After nine years with an ‘A’ on his chest, Doughty seems to be the top option to wear the ‘C’.
The storyline of Doughty’s up-and-down 30s, marked by untimely injuries, will continue to follow the Kings through much of the remaining decade. Little talk of an extension between the two sides – as acknowledged by Holland and Doughty – could leave the door open to a wide range of opportunities. Doughty has expressed his desire to stay with Los Angeles through the end of his career. That goal could place some added weight on obtaining the captaincy, as Doughty looks to solidify his lineup importance in the 2026-27 season.
Stanley Cup Final Reset: Hurricanes, Golden Knights Deadlocked In An Instant Classic
Eight days ago, the 2026 Stanley Cup Final was previewed in this space as the most evenly matched Final in years on paper. Four games in, the series has made that framing look conservative. The Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights are tied 2-2 heading into Thursday’s Game five at the Lenovo Center, and they’ve gotten there via four straight games featuring multi-goal comebacks, overtime finishes, a rewritten Cup Final record book, and a goaltending twist nobody saw coming. Through three games, the series was averaging 8.33 goals per game, and Game four’s 5-3 finish barely slowed the pace. No game has been decided by more than two goals, and only an empty-netter in game four has pushed a final margin past one.
Four Games, Four Comebacks
Every game of this series has seen a multi-goal lead erased: twice the rallying team finished the job, twice the comeback only delayed the result.
Game 1: Golden Knights 5, Hurricanes 4. Carolina could not have scripted a better start. Nikolaj Ehlers scored 25 seconds into the series and added a second goal soon after for a 2-0 lead, but Vegas answered with three straight to ignite a back-and-forth finish. Tomas Hertl won it with 3:24 remaining in regulation, finishing a backhand feed from Colton Sissons.
Game 2: Hurricanes 4, Golden Knights 3 (OT). This time it was Vegas that built the 2-0 lead, with Brett Howden scoring both goals, before Carolina stormed back with three in the third period. Mark Stone tied it with 1:21 left in regulation, but Seth Jarvis ended it 3:56 into overtime, hammering a one-timer from the left circle off a Shayne Gostisbehere feed past Carter Hart. The win extended Carolina’s perfect overtime record this postseason to 6-0.
Game 3: Golden Knights 5, Hurricanes 4 (2OT). The wildest of the bunch. Hertl opened the scoring 10 seconds into the game’s first power play, then he and Mitch Marner scored 16 seconds apart in the second period, the fastest two playoff goals in franchise history. Marner completed his hat-trick in a span of 6:10 to make it 4-0, breaking a 69-year-old record for the fastest hat-trick in Stanley Cup Final history. Carolina, with Brandon Bussi replacing Frederik Andersen to start the third period, then authored one of the great failed comebacks in Final history: Jordan Martinook, Taylor Hall, and Jordan Staal scored three times in 39 seconds, the fastest three goals in a Cup Final game, before Andrei Svechnikov jammed home a 6-on-4 power-play goal with 1:42 left to force overtime. It took until 5:38 of double overtime for Shea Theodore, who logged a game-high 39:09, to end it on a shot that went wide, caromed off the end boards, and banked in off Bussi’s skate. The loss was Carolina’s first in overtime this postseason.
Game 4: Hurricanes 5, Golden Knights 3. With Bussi making his first career playoff start, Carolina built a 3-1 lead, watched Vegas pull even late in the second period, and then took the game over in the third. Staal scored twice, including the game-winner, chipping the puck over a diving Hart’s glove as he fell to the ice, to push his total to five goals in the Final. Ehlers sealed the win with an empty net goal. Bussi, in winning his playoff debut, became the first goaltender since 1961 to do so in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Series Previewed Vs. The Series Played
The original preview framed this matchup as a collision between Carolina’s volume game and Vegas’s finishing, with the prediction that the series would come down to which goaltender held his postseason form longer. Half of that has held up. The other half has been turned on its head.
The volume-versus-finishing contrast remains visible, just not in the way the full-game numbers suggested it would. The split has become period-based: Vegas has owned the second periods of this series, outscoring Carolina 9-1 while holding a 40-25 shot advantage, while the Hurricanes have dominated the thirds, outscoring the Golden Knights 10-3. Every Carolina comeback has come in the final frame; every Vegas surge has come in the middle one. “We’re both trying to play the same game with a few slight differences,” Jaccob Slavin said. “It’s just whoever can play their game better and more consistently.”
The goaltending prediction, meanwhile, has been blown apart. The preview was built on the premise of Andersen versus Hart, two netminders who had played every minute for their teams through three rounds. Hart has held up his end as far as remaining in net, but his numbers look grim becoming the first goalie in Cup Final history to allow four goals in each of the first four games. Andersen, on the other hand, entered the Final leading the playoffs in goals-against average, save percentage, and shutouts, was pulled during Game three after Vegas built its 4-0 lead, and Bussi has taken the crease since. What was supposed to be the most goaltending-dependent Final in years has instead produced 33 goals in four games.
One preview question that has been answered emphatically is whether Carolina could finish at a rate that justified its volume. The Hurricanes have scored four or more goals in every game of the series after entering the Final with questions about whether their secondary line could carry the load alone. Staal, listed in the preview as a storyline, not a key player, has instead been their most dangerous finisher.
A Record Book Rewritten
The historic markers through four games, collected in one place:
- Marner’s second-period hat trick in Game three, completed in 6:10, broke a 69-year-old record as the fastest in Stanley Cup Final history.
- Carolina’s three goals in 39 seconds later that night are the fastest three goals in a Cup Final game.
- Hertl and Marner’s goals, 16 seconds apart, set a Golden Knights record for the fastest two playoff goals.
- Bussi became the first goaltender since 1961 to win his playoff debut in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Storylines, Four Games Later
Staal’s chase is very much alive: The 37-year-old captain has five goals in the Final and remains two wins from breaking Chris Chelios‘ record for the longest gap between Stanley Cup wins (16 years). His Game four performance with two goals, including the game-winner, was the kind of night that starts Conn Smythe conversations.
Marner has delivered on the billing: The record-setting hat trick added to a postseason in which he entered the Final leading the playoffs in scoring. The Conn Smythe race, the preview framed as Marner versus Andersen, has shifted under Andersen’s half, but Marner’s case has only strengthened.
The goaltending storyline nobody had: Bussi, who hadn’t appeared in a game in roughly two months before relieving Andersen in Game 3, is now the starting goaltender in a tied Stanley Cup Final. It took a difficult decision from Rod Brind’Amour to get there; going with the rookie for Game 4 meant sitting a goaltender who entered the Final as a Conn Smythe co-favorite. Thus far, the call has been rewarded.
What Decides It From Here
The series now reduces to a best-of-three with Carolina holding home ice, though home ice has meant little, with the teams splitting both the Raleigh and Vegas legs. The structural questions are clear. Can Vegas extend its second-period dominance across full games, and can Carolina stop spotting leads it then has to chase? The Hurricanes have trailed by multiple goals in three of the four games and still found a way to make every one of them a one-goal affair deep into the third period or beyond.
The goaltending question, meanwhile, has been turned inside out. Andersen lost the Carolina net entirely, and Hart, while still playing every minute for Vegas, has surrendered exactly four goals in each of the series’ four games. The preview’s closing line argued that whichever goaltender held his postseason form longer would probably win his team the Cup. Through four games, neither has, and the team that gets even one stellar night from its netminder may find that’s the edge this series has been waiting for.
Game 5 Thursday night in Raleigh. If the first four games are any indication, there is another must-watch night of hockey ahead.