NEWNow you can listen to Pak Gazette articles!
The Carolina Hurricanes hit the jackpot in Las Vegas.
For the first time in two decades, the Canes will bring the Stanley Cup to Raleigh after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights, 3-0, in Game 6 on Sunday night.
It took the Hurricanes just over three minutes to drown out the rowdy Las Vegas crowd, as former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall found the back of the net to take the early lead.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PakGazette.Com
Jackson Blake of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrates with teammates Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven, Sean Walker and K’andre Miller after scoring a goal as Brett Howden of the Vegas Golden Knights looks on during the second period of game six of the 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 14, 2026. (Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)
The offense was slow for quite some time, but with just under seven minutes left in the second, it was Jackson Blake who gave the Canes a 2-0 lead. Vegas barely did itself any favors in the second half, with just three shots on goal.
This series had been no stranger to wasted clues, but they were on the side of the Golden Knights. This Carolina team wasn’t letting anything slide, and it showed by killing off a key Las Vegas power play midway through the third.
Vegas pulled Carter Hart with about three minutes left, officially going into desperation mode, but nothing worked, and Nikolaj Ehlers scored an empty-net goal to get the party started. Rookie goalie Brandon Bussi followed up with a header and preserved the shutout.
One of those blown leads was a 4-0 lead in Game 3 that Vegas absolved with a double overtime goal. The other, however, may be the difference in this series.
Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrate a goal during the second period of game six of the 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 14, 2026. (Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS GOALKEEPER CARTER HART SAYS HURRICANE FANS’ CHANTS ‘NO MEANS NO’ ARE ‘JUST NOISE’
Bussi, who played less than half of the Canes’ games in the regular season, did not see the ice at all in the playoffs until taking Frederik Andersen’s place in the third game. In the most important game of his life, he took a step forward.
In Game 2, the Golden Knights led 2-0 with 10 minutes left in the third period, but Carolina scored three goals to take the lead. Vegas tied to force overtime, but overtime didn’t go their way.
Rod Brind-Amour became the 14th person to win a Stanley Cup as a player and head coach (not including player-coaches), and the first to do so since Larry Robinson in 2000 with the New Jersey Devils.
He is also only the seventh person to win the Cup coaching the team he won it with as a player. No one had done that since Toe Blake did it with the Montreal Canadiens 70 years ago.
Jackson Blake and Logan Stankoven of the Carolina Hurricanes celebrate a goal during the second period of game six of the 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 14, 2026. (Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pak Gazette APP
It’s a long-awaited breakthrough for the Hurricanes, who made the playoffs for the eighth straight season after missing out in each of the previous nine. In that span, they had lost three conference finals and three semifinals, despite consistently being a common choice to win it all.
This time, however, they finally fought for Lord’s Stanley and did everything they could to take it from him.
