In one for the ages, the Vegas Golden Knights gagged up a four-goal third period lead to the cardiac Carolina Hurricanes, but still managed to take Game 3 when Shea Theodore’s one-timer from the right point caromed off the end boards and went in off goaltender Brandon Bussi 5:38 into double overtime.
After a scoreless opening frame that saw visiting Carolina largely carry the play, Mitch Marner turned the second period into his own personal highlight reel. Marner drew the secondary assist on Tomas Hertl’s power-play goal, which came after Vegas had not one, but two scores rightly removed from the board by review, and then went on to pump in the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup Final history with three-straight goals in a torrid 6:10 span to give Vegas a seemingly insurmountable 4-0 lead.
The Hurricanes, who replaced starter Frederik Andersen with Bussi to start the third, looked to be playing out the final twenty minutes simply because they had to. Yet, somehow Rod Brind’Amour’s charges caught fire midway through, cutting the deficit down to one when Jordan Martinook, Taylor Hall and Jordan Staal scored on consecutive shots a record-breaking 39 seconds apart. Bussi denied Marner on a penalty shot prior to the storm of goals.
Andrei Svechnikov got the tying power-play marker off a goalmouth scramble with Bussi on the bench for a sixth attacker with 1:42 remaining in regulation following a delay of game penalty on Theodore.
Following his outburst, Marner leads the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 28 points (10G/18A), the most by a Golden Knights player in a single postseason, two more than Jack Eichel had in 2023, when Vegas won the Stanley Cup over the Florida Panthers in five games.
Between the pipes, Carter Hart made 29 saves for the Golden Knights, while Andersen surrendered four goals on 16 shots. Former Panther Bussi made 18 stops of 19 shots in his first appearance of the postseason.
The teams will get a much-needed two days off before resuming the series on Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena.