Andrei Svechnikov finally broke out with a pair of power-play goals, and Brandon Bussi delivered a 23-save performance as the Carolina Hurricanes doubled up the Vegas Golden Knights by a 4-2 count at Lenovo Center, leaving them one win away from capturing the franchise’s second Stanley Cup.
Captain Jordan Staal became the first player in sevenety years to open a Stanley Cup Final with goals in five-straight games when he tipped in Nikolaj Ehlers’ pass for his sixth of the series at 11:46 of the first period. Stall joined Montreal Canadiens Jean Béliveau (1956), Maurice “Rocket” Richard (1951) and Vancouver Millionaires star Cyclone Taylor (1918) in accomplishing the rare feat.
Ehlers finished the game with three assists and took a pair of delaying the game penalties that helped aid the Golden Knights cause.
Sebastian Aho scored a fantastic goal to put the Hurricanes up 3-2 late in the second, taking a pass off his skates before roofing a shot on Carter Hart for his first of the final.
Pavel Dorofeyev bagged his first two goals of the series, while the beleaguered Hart made 20 saves for Vegas, who must come away victorious tonight to send the series back to Raleigh for Game 7 on Wednesday.
CAROLINA HURRICANES at VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
- WHEN: 8 p.m. ET
- WHERE: T-Mobile Arena – Paradise, NV
- SERIES: Carolina leads 3-2
- ON THE TUBE: ABC
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Hurricanes: Bussi (2-1 .908 / 2.18 0SO) Golden Knights: Hart (14-7 .909 / 2.59 0SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Carolina / Vegas
Panthers acquire Pieniniemi
The Florida Panthers have acquired defenseman Emil Pieniniemi from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for the rights to Slovakian forward Oliver Okuliar.
Pieniniemi appeared in nine games with the American Hockey League’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the 2025-26 season, registering a goal and two assists. He played in two postseason tilts with the WBS Penguins, collecting an assist. Pieniniemi also produced 11 points (6G/5A) in 26 games with the ECHL Wheeling Nailers. He led all Wheeling defensemen with eight points in 15 Kelly Cup playoff games.
The 21-year-old was originally selected by Pittsburgh in the third round (91st overall) of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.