Golden Knights have experience to avoid ‘any panic’ in Game 6 of Cup Final

LAS VEGAS -- Ivan Barbashev has been in this situation before. He knows what it’s like to have your back against the wall in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Vegas Golden Knights forward played for the St. Louis Blues when they were forced to play Game 7 in 2019 after losing 5-1 at home to the Boston Bruins in Game 6. Barbashev and the Blues capitalized on their second chance to win the franchise’s first championship with a 4-1 victory in Boston.

Seven years later, Barbashev and the Golden Knights are facing elimination, trailing the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in the best-of-7 Cup Final heading into Game 6 at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC).

“I think you just have to play,” Barbashev said. “It’s up to us to come to the rink and be ready to go. The game itself is going to show the result at the end, but I think our group is pretty confident. Just trying to prepare mentally.”

Six Golden Knights have previously faced elimination in a Cup Final; they are a combined 1-5, with Barbashev being the lone winner. Forward Colton Sissons went to the Final in 2017 with the Nashville Predators, who lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.

“I was so emotionally overstimulated, I hardly even remember it,” Sissons said with a laugh. “Obviously we have a lot of boys in here with a lot of experience this time of year and we’ll lean on them and myself. We’re all comfortable in big games and we’re going to play our best game.”

The other four players with such experience were with the Golden Knights when they lost to the Washington Capitals in five games in 2018 to conclude the team’s inaugural season -- defensemen Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore, and forwards Reilly Smith and William Karlsson.

“It was a must-win game for us and desperation’s part of it,” McNabb said. “There’s not going to be any panic (tonight), but we’re going to go out and play to the best of our ability, lay it all out on the line to win a Game 6 and go to Game 7.”​

Karlsson is out for Game 6 after sustaining what appeared to be an upper-body injury in the second period of a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 5 on Thursday. Smith, who hasn’t played since the Western Conference First Round, could replace Karlsson; he has 85 points (29 goals, 56 assists) in 123 playoff games and won the Cup with Vegas in 2023.

“I mean, we’ve had a lot of experienced players in this room,” Barbashev said. “I think our group is older than most teams. I think we’ve done it all season long, just staying with it. We’ve had some tough stretches during the season, and I think it’s going to help us moving forward.”

Tomas Hertl didn’t play for the San Jose Sharks when they lost to the Penguins in Game 6 of the 2016 Cup Final; the forward sustained a lower-body injury in Game 2 and missed the rest of the series. But Hertl, who was in his third NHL season at the time, felt the loss as much as anyone.

He’s got another chance at the Cup and wants a happier ending this time. But the Golden Knights must first force a Game 7, which would be played at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday.

“You never know if you’re coming back to the Final,” Hertl said. “You just want to play the best you can and put (in) the best performance and just be ready for Game 6.

“You don’t think about it, really. In my head, just be ready for this game. Next game is ours. That’s why we’re focused only on (tonight). We have such a good hockey team, and even after two losses, we’ve still played some good hockey. I know with this group, I know we can force it to a Game 7.”