Stanley Cup Final Game 6 Live Blog between Hurricanes, Golden Knights

Welcome to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights. The Hurricanes defeat the Golden Knights 3-0 and win the Cup. 

NHL.com Editor-in-Chief Bill Price was in T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to provide all the sights, sounds and highlights.

11 p.m. ET

That's it. The season is over and the Hurricanes are your Stanley Cup champs, beating the Golden Knights in six games. 

Carolina goes 16-3 in the postseason -- the same record as the New York Knicks in the NBA playoffs. Crazy 

What a Final, what a season, what a finish. 

Thanks for reading and be sure the check out NHL.com later for of our postgame coverage.

10:55 p.m. ET

The Carolina Hurricanes are going to win the Stanley Cup. 

The are up 3-0 with 1:08 left here in Vegas. 

Nikolaj Ehlers scores into the open net. 

Now we wait and see who gets the Conn Smythe and who captain Jordan Staal gives the Cup to first. 

What a way to close this out.

10:50 p.m. ET 

Vegas is really pressing, trying to a goal and give it a chance to tie it late.

But Bussi will not let it happen. He just made another huge save with 2:21 left to keep it a 2-0 lead. 

Vegas has pulled Carter Hart and is skating 6-on-5 trying to score. 

But Bussi has been unreal in this one. 

The "We Want The Cup" from the Canes fans in attendance are getting louder.

10:45 p.m. ET 

The Golden Knights are really pulling out the stops now, using a video of Carrottop to get the fans going. 

Hey, anything couldn't hurt at this minute. There is 4:10 left and Carolina can taste a Cup victory. 

And just when Vegas has a decent chance, Bussi, the Bus Man, is there to shut down Pavel Dorofeyev on a good scoring chance. 

When we look back on this series in the years to come, the switch to Bussi in Game 4, might turn out to be the turning point. 

Carolina has been solid every since he took over. 

ESPN just showed Phil Pritchard of the Hall of Fame preparing the Cup backstage. 

Talk about a jinx. 

Now Hoover Dam is getting involved. They showed a picture of Hoover Dam with the caption, "Make Some Dam Noise."

10:40 p.m. ET 

This might not be Vegas' night, a night that has under 7 minutes remaining in the third period and Carolina up 2-0.

As the power play was winding down, Jack Eichel had a great look, had Bussi beat, but hit the crossbar. 

At first it looked as if Bussi has made a remarkable save, but no, it was the iron that bailed out Carolina and denied Vegas.

We are under 7 minutes left and Carolina is still up 2-0. Keep an eye on Carter Hart, John Tortorella likes to pull the goalie early if his team is down by multiple goals.

10:35 p.m. 

We have 11:11 left in the third, and Vegas is going on the power play after Eric Robinson take a high-sticking penalty. 

It's really the one thing Carolina couldn't do and now Vegas has a chance to cut the lead in half. 

I think it's clear one more goal for Carolina and this game is over and I think the fans know that. 

That's why Vegas has to find a way to get a goal, but can't sell out and risk getting beat for a third goal.

10:30 p.m ET 

We have 13:43 to go and time is definitely running short for Vegas, which must win this game to keep the season and Final alive.

The crowd has definitely been quieted by what's going on here, Carolina smothering Vegas at every turn. 

If Vegas could get two goals in this third, not only would it likely tie the game, it would be more free tacos from Taco Bell, so there is a lot at stake. I'm kidding, of course. 

It's going to be hard because Carolina is playing a modified version of the trap, not allowing anything to get through the neutral zone, making it ever harder for Vegas to get any offense going. 

Very frustrating to play again.

10:25 p.m. ET 

There is 16:39 left in the third, Carolina leads 2-0 and the "Go Knights Go" chants are taking on a feeling of desperation as the fans plead with their team to get something going. 

This is the same sort of feeling I sensed in Montreal, when the Hurricanes were frustrating the Canadiens in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final. 

It's like the line about the Terminator, "It's what they do. It's all they do." 

But Vegas is a resilient bunch and the Knights didn't get this far by folding under pressure. 

Carolina had a chance to go up 3-0, but Carter Hart stopped Seth Jarvis.

10:18 p.m. ET

The third period has begun -- after another stirring rendition of "Jump Around" by House of Pain -- Carolina is 20 minutes away from winning its first Cup in 20 years, while Vegas is 20 minutes away from having a magical run end two wins short.

Vegas has been on a tear since John Tortorella took over as coach at the end of March. The won the first two rounds in six games and shockingly swept the Colorado Avalanche in the West Final.

They had a 1-0 lead and a 2-1 lead in this Final, but seemed to run out of gas, the injury to center William Karlsson in Game 5 a major, major blow.

Vegas actually took off when Karlsson returned from a season-long injury to start the second round, and once he went out it was trouble.

Still, it's not over yet. No lead has been safe in this Final, so anything can happen.

Expect Vegas to throw everything at the net in the third.

10:01 p.m. ET 

The second period is over, it's 2-0 Carolina and Vegas is 20 minutes away from having its season end and see Carolina party on its own ice. 

Carolina almost made it a three-goal game with 2:14 oeft on the power play, but Carter Hart robbed Sebastian Aho, who took a one-timer from the side of the net on the power play. 

If Vegas is going to win this game, it's going to have to figure out a way to get some offensive going against Carolina, which is in major shutdown mode. 

Vegas only has 14 shots on goal through two periods and just five in the second period. 

And Carolina is comfortable playing this way.

9:55 p.m. ET

It's getting late early here in Vegas. 

Carolina leads 2-0 with 2:56 left in the second and now Carolina is on the power play after Rasmus Andersson took a interference call. 

If you go back and watch that shift by Logan Stankoven on that second goal, you will realize what Hurricanes hockey is all about. 

He never gave up on the puck, he won puck battles and when it came time, played a team game, setting up Jackson Blake for the second goal. 

Just an amazing play leading to a huge goal for Carolina. 

By the way, Jaccob Slavin is doing Jaccob Slavin things here for Carolina and that's bad new for Vegas, which is having trouble generating any serious offensive threat. 

They are pulling out the stops here in Vegas. In an attempt to get the crowd louder, they used the yodeling guy from "The Price Is Right." 

It's time to break out the big guns here.

9:50 p.m. ET 

And now it's 2-0 Hurricanes on a goal by Jackson Blake that was made possible by the play of Logan Stankoven, who battled in the corner, got the puck to Blake, who banged it home. 

There is 6:29 left in the second, it's 2-0 Canes and the "Let's Go Canes" chants are getting louder. 

As we get deeper into the second period, it's really starting to seem like the next goal is massive. 

If Carolina can go up 3-0, it could be game over with how they are playing defense. 

But if Vegas can scored, it would not only get a big lift, but also put a dent in the Bussi bus, which is rolling along right now.

The Vegas fans are trying to get their team going with time ticking away on the season, starting some "Go Knights Go" chants. 

One guy a few rows in front of us is passionately yelling for the team to get going. He sounds a bit angry.

9:41 p.m. ET

We are past the midway point of the second period -- there is 9:23 left -- and it's 1-0 Carolina. 

This game has really settled in to what we sort of expected between these two teams -- not a lot of shots or scoring chances. 

But Vegas needs to score to stay alive. 

At a recent last break, some fan just tried to answer four true-or-false questions. 

It was rigged, with the each question clearly loaded to favor Vegas.

He went 4-for-4.  

It worked, it got the fans fired up. 

At the last break, a whole row of fans got free tickets to see Scorpions in Vegas. Yes, the same Scorpions who sing "Rock You Like a Hurricane"

Still, you can sense a bit of nervous energy here with Carolina still up 1-0 here midway through the second. 

Watching Jordan Martinook on the last shift, it reminded me the Hurricanes forward is doing a blog for NHL.com with Shawn Roarke, who has been nicknamed "Blog Man" by Martinook. 

I have been doing the blogs with Noah Hanifin of Vegas. If he has a nickname for me, hasn't told me. I'm not sure I want to know.

9:31 p.m. ET

There is 12:46 left in the second period and Carolina still leads, 1-0 despite being outshot 15-10. 

This is a tight game score wise, and mostly because of the goalies.

About two minutes after Hart robbed Jordan Staal on a breakaway, Bussi -- with the help of Jackson Blake -- stoned Tomas Hertlon the doorstep. 

They just played a mix up of "Whole Lotta Love" by Zeppelin and some rap. Again, why? 

Right after that, the DJ played "I Don't Wanna Stop" by Ozzy. All is forgiven. 

We almost had some argy-bargy with Logan Stankoven and Jeremy Lauzon looking like they might mix it up, but no avail. 

This is too tight of a game to take a dumb penalty.

9:25 p.m. ET 

We have 16:07 left in the second and it's still 1-0 Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes killed off the rest of the penalty and it's still 1-0 Carolina early in the second period of this Game 6 the Golden Knights need to win in order to keep the season alive. 

About three minutes into the period, Carter Hart stopped Eric Staal on a breakaway. Hart, so far, is keeping Vegas in this game. 

I've gone with a mix of peanut m&ms, gummi bears, peanuts and regular m&ms. 

I was walking around the concourse during the first intermission and saw a wide variety of Vegas jerseys - home, away, Hockey Fights Cancer, from their various outdoor games. All pretty cool. 

It's also pretty cool being so close to the Fortress, with the drummers drumming, dancers dancing and lights flashing. 

I know this is the last Vegas home game this season, but if you get a chance to get to a game, do so.

9:18 p.m. ET

The second period has begun and Vegas has :38 left of power-play time to try to time the game.

The Hurricanes lead 1-0 on an early goal by Taylor Hall, who may have been the best skater on the ice in the first period.

As for the best player, that would be Carolina goalie Brandon Bussi with Vegas goalie Carter Hart a close second.

Vegas had 10 shots on goal in the first period while Carolina had 8.

But one of Carolina's went in and that's all the matters.

At least 40 minutes to go here.

9:01 p.m. ET

One period in the books and my goodness what a wild first 20 minutes. 

It's 1-0 Carolina and it stayed that way because of Carolina goalie Brandon Bussi, who made a ridiculous diving save right near the end of the first period with Vegas on the power play.

Vegas got the power player with 1:32 left in the first when Logan Stankoven got called for cross-checking.

As he went into the box, the DJ played "Goodbye to You" by Scandal, one of the most underrated songs of the 80s.

Vegas will have 38 seconds of power play time when the second period begins. 

The good news for Vegas is its penalty kill looks good tonight, killing two penalties.

Carolina got its second power play because of Taylor Hall, who is flying all over the ice. 

In addition to opening the scoring here, he drew a penalty with 3:48 left in the first, going end to end with the puck and getting hooked by Jack Eichel while he got close to the goal.

8:51 p.m. ET 

It's 1-0 Hurricanes with 4:44 left in the first.

We had some special teams action on both sides and while it led to some amazing chances, no goals were scored. 

Carolina had two great chances, but Carter Hart kept them off the board with some big saves. 

The action is getting crazy here. 

The specials teams sequence started when Carolina' Jackson Blake took a tripping penalty in the offensive zone. 

But 31 seconds into the power play, Vegas' Tomas Hertl took a face-off violation penalty for putting his hand on the puck in the dot. 

So that's what led to the 4-on-4.

During the 4-on-4, Brandon Bussi stopped Howden on a breakaway. Circle that save. 

Then Carolina went on the power play and nearly scored, but Hart was able to make some acrobatic stops to keep it 1-0 game, losing the puck behind the net, but diving back in front to stop a shot by Andrei Svechnikov. circle that one, too.  

They just had some sort of jenga/building block challenge where two fans try to build a fortress with jenga blocks. 

One guy actually tried to build something. The other guy spelled VGK with his blocks. 

The guy who spelled VGK got the win via the fan vote.

8:35 p.m. ET 

We have 10:36 left in first, and there are "Bussi, Bussi" chants here in Vegas after he keeps the puck out of the net after a good chance that saw the puck bounce around off the back of the net and into the crease, but it didn't go in. 

It's 1-0 Carolina with 10:38 left in the first. 

The Hurricanes have gotten to their game early, putting a lot of pressure on the Vegas defense, employing a pretty heavy forecheck and keeping the Vegas offense on its heels. In fact, Vegas needed almost six minutes to get its first shot on goal.  

And a place that had a party atmosphere here feels a bit worried already. 

The next goal in this game could be huge.

8:30 p.m. ET

The Hurricanes get the start they want, Taylor Hall scoring at 3:47 on a mini breakaway, beating Carter Hart clean over the glove. 

The play came after Vegas was hit with a delayed offside. Hall was able to sneak behind the Vegas defense and get the pass on the boards and come in on Hart. 

Certainly not the start Vegas wanted.

8:27 p.m. ET

We are a few minutes in and there is certainly an air of tension here. 

Vegas needs to win or the season's over. 

Neither team is taking many chances early. In the first 3:17 of the game, Carolina had the only shot on goal. 

And again, lots of Canes fans. They booed at the 2:01 mark when a close icing call went against Carolina. 

Former Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was the siren guy tonight, which was really cool. 

He won the Cup with Vegas here just three seasons ago and is now retired. 

You know how you can tell there are a lot of Carolina fans here? During the anthem, when the singer says "red" there was a big shout of "red" here. 

of course, the "knights" part was louder, but still a good showing a "red"

8:15 p.m. ET

The teams are on the ice after another incredible pregame show featuring Mother Nature and drummers flying around over the ice.

Speaking of the drum line, I just rode up in the freight elevator with them and then held the door for them so they could get to the Fortress on time.

I feel like an honorary member of the Knights Watch.

Also, bad news for the waistline, there are plenty of peanut M&Ms in the auxiliary press box, too.

Great.

Maybe someone read my last post as they just played a song from Frank Sinatra - "Let's Face the Music and Dance" -- and they just played the song. No remix, no nothing.

You don't mess with the Chairman of the Board.

Before we get started, some good Game 6 notes from the NHLStats crew.

Teams that hold a 3-2 lead in a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final have an all-time record of 27-18 (.600) in Game 6, which includes Stanley-Cup clinching wins in eight of the previous 10 instances.

Teams that trail 3-2 in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final with a Game 6 contest at home own an all-time record of 12-20.

Among those 12 teams, four ended up winning Game 7 on the road which includes the Bruins in 2011, Penguins in 2009, Canadiens in 1971 and the Red Wings in 1950.

Game 6 of a Stanley Cup Final has featured overtime nine times before. The team leading the series 3-2 scored the Cup-clinching overtime goal in six of those nine contests. The three teams to force a Game 7 in that scenario are Tampa Bay (3-2 2OT W at CGY in 2004), Toronto (4-3 OTW at DET in 1964) and Detroit (1-0 OTW at TOR).

Teams with 3-2 Series Lead in Game 6 of Stanley Cup Final, Since 2012

2025: Panthers (5-1 W vs. EDM)  
2024: Panthers (5-1 L at EDM)  
2022: Avalanche (2-1 W at TBL)  
2020: Lightning (2-0 W at DAL)  
2019: Blues (5-1 L vs. BOS)  
2017: Penguins (2-0 W at NSH)  
2016: Penguins (3-1 W at SJS)  
2015: Blackhawks (2-0 W vs. TBL)  
2013: Blackhawks (3-2 W at BOS)  
2012: Kings (6-1 W vs. NJD)

Teams to Win Stanley Cup After Facing 3-2 Series Deficit, All-Time

2011: Bruins (vs. VAN)  
2009: Penguins (vs. DET)  
2004: Lightning (vs. CGY)  
2001: Avalanche (vs. NJD)  
1971: Canadiens (vs. CHI)  
1964: Maple Leafs (vs. DET)  
1950 Red Wings (vs. NYR)  
1942: Maple Leafs (vs. DET)

7:57 p.m. ET

Warmups are over and we are about 20 minutes from puck drop. 

Again, Reilly Smith and Braeden Bowman are in for Vegas while William Karlsson (injury) and Keegan Kolesar (scratch) are out. 

In case you're wondering, Bowman's last game was March 21, meaning he's never played for current coach John Tortorella. 

Nothing like easing a guy back into the lineup. 

One more change. Kaedan Korczak is in for Dylan Coghlan. Torts really mixing up the defense. 

And for Carolina, it's Brandon Bussi again in goal and Pyotr Kochetkov backing him up. 

See this is why I could never be professional DJ like Steve Aoki. 

During warmups, they played "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana, "Right For Your Right" by Beastie Boys and "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor, but they were mashups, mixups, club mixes, whatever you call them. Then they played a really wacky version of "I Love Rock n' Roll" by Joan Jett. 

At least they are not messing with "We Will Rock You" by Queen. Oh wait, they are. Arggg.  

And just to send me over the top, they concluded warmups with a disco version of "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC. 

I know I seem like an old man yelling at the clouds, but well, I am an old man. 

Again, just play the original song. You're not going to make it better by doing some funky mixes or adding a bass beat that would shatter windows. 

In fact, what they should have done is played "Eye of Tiger" while the video board played the training montage from "Rocky III" of Sly Stallone and Mr. T. If that wouldn't get you ready to play a huge game, nothing will. 

And this is a huge game. The Canes win and the Cup is theirs. The Golden Knights win and they go back to Raleigh. We all do.

7:45 p.m.

Warmups have started and we have our answer regarding the Vegas lineup -– it will be original Golden Misfit Reilly Smith taking William Karlsson’s spot.

That’s big for Smith, who hasn’t played since the first round.

But wait, there’s more. Apparently, looks like defenseman Braeden Bowman is in tonight in place of Keegan Kolesar.

Interesting.

One other lineup note, Pyotr Kochetkov is again the backup for Brandon Bussi. 

Though this is a Vegas home game, there are plenty of Carolina fans here tonight. In fact, a bunch of them were lining the glass during warmups.

Even before warmups started, they were chanting “Let’s Go Canes” and “We Want the Cup,”: which drew plenty of boos from the Vegas fans. This is certainly shaping up to be a wild night here.

But will it be the last game of the 2025-26 season or will that be Wednesday?

Back to Steve Aoki. Though I’m not a big DJ guy, he did a mashup/tech version a few songs of one of my new favorite bands called Banda AL9. Check it out.

As for tonight, I have a new vantage point. I’m sitting in the aux press box right next to the Fortress. I have four NHL.com writers to one side of me and three NHL.com International guys to the other side.

While I said I was sitting in aux box to be nice and allow Mike Zeisberger to stretch his long legs in the main press box, my real motive was to stay away from the bottomless bowl of peanut M&Ms they have near the main press box.

Needless to say, being on the road for two weeks has not been kind to my waistline.

7:30 p.m. ET

For the third time in this series, the Stanley Cup is in the building. It was at Lenovo Center for Cup Final Media Day on June 1 and then was on the ice before Game 1 in Raleigh on June 2.

Tonight, it will wait backstage to see if it will be handed out to the Hurricanes or stay in its case and fly back to Raleigh tomorrow for a Game 7 on Wednesday.

The previous two times the Cup had a chance to be handed out in Vegas, it was. The Washington Capitals won Game 5 back in 2018 on June 7. Exactly three years ago yesterday, on June 13, 2023, the Cup was presented to the Golden Knights after they beat the Florida Panthers in Game 5.

So, what will happen tonight? Who knows?

We do know that it was another scorching hot day in Vegas. That didn’t stop fans from partying outside with DJ Steve Aoki, who, by the way, had his tarp off on the big stage.

I can’t blame him.

I will get to him later in the blog.

The one question heading into this game from a Vegas standpoint is who will replace William Karlsson in the lineup. Karlsson was hurt in Game 5 and is out. It’s possible Reilly Smith, an original Golden Knight who made stops with the Penguins and Rangers between stints with Vegas, could play. He hasn’t played this postseason since Game 6 of the first round. Karlsson returned to the lineup for Game 1 of the second round after missing most of the season.

We don’t expect any lineup changes for the Hurricanes other than Frederik Andersen possibly being the backup to Brandon Bussi.

We will find out during warmups, which will start in a little bit.

While you wait, here is some required pregame reading for all of you (there may be a quiz). 

Here are 3 things to watch tonight according to Dan Rosen.

Here’s a good story on Jordan Staal from Nick Cotsonika.

And here Tracey Myers explains why the Golden Knights won’t panic facing elimination.

I’ll be back when warmups begin.