After nearly two months of postseason hockey, the Stanley Cup Final is here, featuring two teams I’m not sure any of us like.
Game 1 emanates from Raleigh’s Lenovo Center where the Carolina Hurricanes, who have home ice in the series, take on the Vegas Golden Knights. The championship appearance marks Vegas’s third in 9 seasons since being first welcomed to the league in 2017-18. They are 1-1 in those appearances, losing to the Washington Capitals in 2018 and beating the Florida Panthers in 2023.
The Golden Knights are led on offense by Mitch Marner (21) and Jack Eichel (18), who are first and second in NHL postseason scoring. In goal, the cringey Carter Hart has won 12 of his 16 games in the postseason, posting a 2.22 goals against average and .924 save percentage. John Tortorella is looking for his second Stanley Cup as a head coach — though it has come at a cost. The Golden Knights lost a second-round pick due to how Torts and the rest of the team handled their media obligations.
Meanwhile, Carolina is back in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006, when they defeated the Edmonton Oilers in seven games to win their first and only championship. The Hurricanes have mowed through the Eastern Conference’s “best” — the Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, and Montreal Canadiens — losing just once in 13 games — a 6-2 loss to the Habs in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on May 21.
Frederik Andersen‘s stats in goal are absurd: he’s 12-1 with a 1.41 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake are Carolina’s only point-per-game players on offense.
Puck drop in the United States is a little after 8 pm on ABC. Come join us in the comments for the game. Let’s go, meteor!
