The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 in Game 6, becoming Stanley Cup champions for the second time in franchise history.
Here’s a look at the Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup championship gear.
Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal was named Playoffs MVP, becoming the oldest player ever to win the Conn Smythe Trophy at 37 years and 277 days old.
Jordan Staal lifts the Stanley Cup
The Hurricanes closed out the Golden Knights with a dominant defensive performance, using their smothering defense to hold Vegas to 11 shots on goal after the first period.
Taylor Hall, the first overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, ended up scoring the Stanley Cup-winning goal, his seventh of the postseason, after Vegas bumbled away the puck in the offensive zone on a rush. Hiding alone near the blue line, Hall streaked down the left wing and beat Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart with a wrist shot 3:47 into the game.
The game-winner ended Hall’s long wait to lift the Stanley Cup. The talented forward has played 16 seasons in the NHL and even won a Hart Trophy as league MVP, but had never made the Stanley Cup Final before this year.
Jackson Blake added an insurance goal 13:31 after his shot redirected off a Golden Knights defender and in.
Nikolaj Ehlers scored an empty-netter with 1:08 remaining to close out the scoring.
The moment the Carolina Hurricanes became Stanley Cup champions
Journeyman Brandon Bussi, who was waived by the Florida Panthers in early October, pitched a 22-save shutout, winning his third consecutive game in relief of an injured Frederik Andersen.
“Love him,” Bussi said. “He’s the reason why we’re here, right? Like he was a workhorse. I only got what, three and a half games? So he honestly deserves more of the credit. I’m pumped for him. He deserves this. He’s worked so hard for this and grinded for a long time, so I’m so happy.”
Bussi, who went undrafted and didn’t make the NHL until he was 27, told Kaplan that he never quit because of his love for the game.
“Obviously, now there’s a little more headlines and stories,” he said. “But, you know, I do it for moments like this. It’s special. You never know if it’s going to happen. You just work hard and put your head down, and good things will happen once in a while.”
He added, “Never give up. Always have fun. Keep your head down. All kind of the cliches, but it’s true, right? I didn’t let anybody tell me no. If there was some adversity, I took it head-on and tried to figure it out and get better from it.”
Despite winning the Cup at T-Mobile Arena, the Golden Knights’ home barn, the Hurricanes did a storm surge at center ice as many Canes’ fans, who traveled to Las Vegas for the game, roared.
Hurricanes do the storm surge at T-Mobile Arena
Staal was Playoffs MVP after scoring in each of the first five games of the Final to tie an NHL record and become the first player in 70 years to accomplish the feat. Per NHL PR, Staal also became the second captain in the past 105 years to score at least six goals in a Stanley Cup Final, joining Wayne Gretzky with the 1985 Edmonton Oilers (7 in 5 games played). Staal finished the playoffs with 12 points (8g, 4a) in 19 games, including a franchise-record six goals in the Final, while also leading the NHL with 235 faceoff wins and posting a record-setting 68 percent success rate on draws during the championship series.
“A good time to get hot, eh?” Staal said to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan on the ice. “I mean, my goodness. I wanted it. I just wanted to win. I wanted to win so bad. That was it.”
The championship marked Rod Brind’Amour’s first Stanley Cup as a head coach after spending eight seasons behind the bench in Carolina. He previously won a championship as captain of the Canes in 2006.
Brind’Amour bearhugs the Stanley Cup
“Roddy’s a massive reason why we’re here,” Staal said. “What more could be said? The guy is the hardest-working guy every single day, bar none. He gives everything that he has. And you can feel it every single day. Every day is passion. I mean, you have to get into it. He’s just amazing. And I’m so happy for him and happy for this group.”
Vegas, who looked completely out of gas in Game 6, had just 2 shots in a putrid 30-minute stretch between the second and third periods, which included Jack Eichel hitting the crossbar on a two-on-none break down low on a power play. Eichel’s wide-open doink was the nail in the coffin of their season.
Hurricanes/Golden Knights handshake line
Vegas’s loss marks the second time in three opportunities they’ve fallen in the Stanley Cup final during their nine years as a franchise. After a midseason trade, former Capitals center Nic Dowd made the championship series for the first time as a professional, but did not realize his childhood dream of lifting the Stanley Cup.
Game 6 marked the only game in the series in which Carter Hart gave up fewer than four goals.
Carolina won a staggering 16 of their 19 playoff games to become champions.
