3 Things to Watch: Hurricanes at Golden Knights, Game 6 of Stanley Cup Final

(1M) Carolina Hurricanes at (1P) Vegas Golden Knights

Stanley Cup Final, Game 6

Carolina leads best-of-7 series 3-2

8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC

LAS VEGAS -- The Stanley Cup will be in the building, and the Carolina Hurricanes could be bringing it back home to Raleigh with them by the end of the night.

The Hurricanes are one win away from their first Stanley Cup championship in 20 years. Their first chance to get it is Sunday, when they play Game 6 against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

Carolina has won the past two games to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series.

"I think I've ran the thought of lifting that Cup over my head millions of times since I was a little kid," Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook said. "So, the fact that it's this close just makes you want it that much more and you're going to do everything you can to try to achieve it."

The Golden Knights have a tall task ahead of them, trying to win two in a row against the Hurricanes, who have not lost two in a row since mid-January.

"What an opportunity," Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb said. "Win a game at home and go for a Game 7."

To get it done, the Golden Knights need a better performance from goalie Carter Hart and a more detailed effort in front of him, all of which also has to happen on the penalty kill.

Hart is the first goalie in Stanley Cup Final history to allow at least four goals in each of the first five games of the series. The Hurricanes are 6-for-12 on the power play since the third period of Game 2.

"I think we've played some really good hockey throughout the series; I think we haven't played a full 60 in a lot of ways as well," Vegas forward Mitch Marner said. "Just make sure we come with the mindset of attacking right away. We don't want to sit back."

Vegas will have to do it without center William Karlsson, who is one of their strongest defensive forwards and a key piece of the penalty kill. Karlsson sustained what appeared to be a left arm injury in the second period of Game 5 and will not play in Game 6.

Karlsson has four points (two goals, two assists) in the series and nine points (three goals, six assists) in 15 games in the playoffs. He's been the center on Vegas' most productive line in the series with Marner (eight points) and Brett Howden (six points) on the wings.

"It's obviously a big miss," Marner said. "He's done a lot of great things for us since he's been back in the lineup, but we've done this all year. We've had a lot of injuries throughout the year, throughout playoffs. So obviously it (stinks) losing Will but it's next-man-up mentality."

Teams holding a 3-2 lead in a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final are 27-18 in Game 6 (.600 winning percentage), including 8-2 since 2012.

The Hurricanes are 3-0 in potential clinching games this postseason. This is the first time the Golden Knights are facing elimination.

Here are 3 things to watch in Game 6:

1. Hart's show

Vegas coach John Tortorella's confidence in Hart has fueled the belief he has in the goalie and it hasn't been shaken by the fact that he has allowed four goals in every game of the series, that he's playing to an .856 save percentage and 3.70 goals-against average entering Game 6.

"Because I know him," said Tortorella, who also coached Hart when he was with the Philadelphia Flyers. "I know there's a better game in him. I've seen it throughout the playoffs. Yeah, I think he's a very good goalie. We've got to do a better job around him too. You can look at the numbers, and you guys, that's what you do, you spit out those numbers, but I've got to look at things differently and watch what the play is going on around him and what type of goals are being scored."

Fair enough, but Hart owns his play in the series to date.

"I haven't been at my best this series," he said. "I'll be better next game."

If he's not, there's a good chance it'll be the last game of the season.​

2. Special teams

Carolina is winning the series on special teams right now, outscoring Vegas 6-2 on the power play, all since Tortorella's unsuccessful coach's challenge for goalie interference with five minutes remaining in the third period of Game 2.

It's a big change for the Hurricanes. They were 7-for-60 (11.7 percent) on the power play in the playoffs before the unsuccessful coach's challenge; they're 6-for-12 (50 percent) since.

"Obviously, you try to find the edge on the video and stuff like that, but I've always said it comes down to executing the passes and executing the shots, and if you see the puck go in a little bit, you get a little more confident to make a play," Carolina center Sebastian Aho said. "I feel like we've worked hard for each other. It's just the simple stuff."

The Golden Knights were 88.0 percent on the PK in the playoffs through Game 1, and 81.4 percent (seventh in the League) in the regular season. It has to be a big point of emphasis for them in Game 6.

"Just get our details back, I think that's probably the biggest thing," McNabb said. "We'll look at it. We'll go over it. We've had a good kill all year. It maybe just got away from us, but we're a confident group on the PK and we're not going to overthink it. We're going to get back to how we do it, our details, and we'll be good."

3. On the 'Bus' again

It's very possible when this series ends that the swing moment we look back on will be the start of the third period of Game 3, when Brandon Bussi replaced Frederik Andersen in Carolina's net.

The Hurricanes made the goalie change that the Golden Knights have not made yet in the series. It is a huge reason why they are ahead and can win the Stanley Cup here in Las Vegas.

Andersen practiced with the Hurricanes on Saturday and coach Rod Brind'Amour said he's available to start, but at this point it would seem like it's Bussi's net. Andersen could be the backup after being a healthy scratch in Games 4 and 5.

Bussi has allowed six goals on 65 shots, including five on 46 in the past two games to win his first two career starts in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He is the first goalie in NHL history to make his first two postseason starts in the Stanley Cup Final and win them both.

He has a .908 save percentage and 2.18 goals-against average in the series. More importantly, Bussi's play and his energy appear to have given a jolt of confidence to the Hurricanes.

Hurricanes projected lineup

Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho -- Jordan Martinook

Taylor Hall -- Logan Stankoven -- Jackson Blake

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Jordan Staal -- Seth Jarvis

William Carrier -- Mark Jankowski -- Eric Robinson

Jaccob Slavin -- Jalen Chatfield

K'Andre Miller -- Sean Walker

Shayne Gostisbehere -- Alexander Nikishin

Brandon Bussi

Frederik Andersen

Scratched: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Mike Reilly, Pyotr Kochetkov

Injured: None

Golden Knights projected lineup

Pavel Dorofeyev -- Jack Eichel -- Mark Stone

Brett Howden -- Tomas Hertl -- Mitch Marner

Ivan Barbashev -- Colton Sissons -- Reilly Smith

Cole Smith -- Nic Dowd -- Keegan Kolesar

Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore

Noah Hanifin -- Rasmus Andersson

Jeremy Lauzon -- Dylan Coghlan

Carter Hart

Adin Hill

Scratched: Akira Schmid, Brandon Saad, Ben Hutton, Jaycob Megna, Braeden Bowman, Kaeden Korczak

Injured: William Karlsson (upper body), Jonas Rondbjerg (lower body)

Status report

Andersen did not dress the past two games, although the Hurricanes have maintained he has been healthy the entire time. If he dresses for Game 6, Kochetkov will be scratched. … Karlsson was ruled out for Game 6 by Tortorella, who would not say who will replace him in the lineup. Smith hasn't played since May 1, which was Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round against the Utah Mammoth; Saad, a forward, most recently played May 22, which was Game 2 of the conference final against the Colorado Avalanche. … Hertl is the likely option to move to center to replace Karlsson in the middle of the second line. It's possible the Golden Knights also use Sissons in that spot. Marner is a potential option as well.