The Carolina Hurricanes captured their second Stanley Cup in franchise history Sunday night, defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 at T-Mobile Arena to win the best-of-seven series 4-2. Goaltender Brandon Bussi, who hadn’t started a game in nearly two months before being inserted in Game 3, made 22 saves for the shutout, frustrating a Vegas offense that managed just 22 shots on goal.
Taylor Hall opened the scoring 3:47 into the first period on a breakaway, and the Hurricanes never looked back. Jack Eichel hit the crossbar with 9:30 remaining in the third period, the closest the Golden Knights came to scoring. Carolina added an empty-net goal late to seal the win.
“I thought their goaltender was really good tonight. Since he’s came in, he’s been very good,” Golden Knights coach John Tortorella said. “We couldn’t find our way. They did. As I’ve always said, it’s a find-a-way league.”
Bussi’s emergence turned the series after the Golden Knights took a 4-0 lead in Game 3. He saved 18 of 19 shots in that eventual 5-4 loss, then backstopped Carolina to wins in Games 4 and 5, prompting Tortorella to make lineup changes for Game 6. Injured center William Karlsson and forward Keegan Kolesar were replaced by Reilly Smith and Braeden Bowman, but the adjustments failed to generate offense.
“Just didn’t capitalize on our chances. We had a lot of good chances in tight. The bar. Shot it into (Bussi). Just didn’t capitalize on the looks,” said Vegas captain Mark Stone.
The Golden Knights were shut out for the second time in three games, and the loss echoed last year’s second-round exit to the Edmonton Oilers, when Vegas failed to score in must-win Games 4 and 5. Defenseman Shea Theodore noted, “I thought we had, I don’t know how many Grade-A looks. It just didn’t seem like we were able to get anything past (Bussi).”
“It’s not a good feeling right now,” defenseman Brayden McNabb added. “Tough to be on this side of it. Been on the other side of it, luckily, but these chances don’t come around very often. So, it stings.”
