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The Carolina Hurricanes are one win away from the Stanley Cup. With a 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5, the Hurricanes hold a 3-2 series lead in the 2026 Stanley Cup Final.
Just under seven minutes into the first period, Pavel Dorofeyev got the Golden Knights on the board with a power play goal. And then for the next 53 minutes, the game belonged to Carolina.
Jordan Staal scored the first goal for the Hurricanes, his sixth of the series, which extended his Stanley Cup Final goal streak to five games. It's now the longest streak to start a Final series in the expansion era, which began in 1967-68.
Coming into the series, Svechnikov had just one goal in the series, but he stepped up when his team needed him most. In his postgame interview, Svechnikov told ESPN's Emily Kaplan that he put pressure on himself to perform after a slow start to the Final.
"Quite a decent [amount] of pressure, to be honest," Svechnikov said. "Just a new day today. Thank God we won. We've got one more in us."
In his second consecutive start, Brandon Bussi was solid in net for the Hurricanes. He stopped 22 of 24 shots, and he made a few key saves in the third period as the Golden Knights were trying to mount another improbable comeback. None were bigger than when Bussi threw out his pad to steal a goal from Tomas Hertl with 1:20 left on the clock.
At the other end of the ice, Carter Hart surrendered four goals for the fifth straight game as he posted an .833 save percentage. With Vegas on the brink of elimination now, Hart has to find another level to his game in a do-or-die Game 6.
The Hurricanes will be playing for the Cup -- and the Golden Knights will be fighting to extend the series -- on Sunday night in Las Vegas.
Svechnikov, Aho make their mark
Throughout most of the playoffs -- but especially in the Stanley Cup Final -- the Hurricanes have been waiting for peak Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho to show up. I'm still not sure we've seen either player at the top of his game, but they were much closer to that level in Game 5.
Svechnikov can be a major weapon for Carolina on the power play, and he certainly was on Thursday night. On his first goal, the Russian winger caught Carter Hart napping when he used Jeremy Lauzon as a screen and snuck a puck between the legs of the Vegas netminder. On his second tally, Svechnikov displayed his nose for the net as he settled into a quiet patch of ice and deposited a tap-in behind Hart after a beautiful pass from Nikolaj Ehlers.
As the team's No. 1 center, Aho is an even more important player than Svechnikov, and he was off to a painfully slow start in the series. Finally, Aho made a big play when he scored what eventually became the game-winner.
Aho snuck down the weak side of the zone and flicked a perfect snap shot over the shoulder of Hart from in tight. It was great awareness and execution from Aho, and that goal may be the spark he needs to close out the series on a high note.
The Hurricanes have gotten to this point with players like Jordan Staal, Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake carrying a lot of the offensive load. That's a testament to the team's depth, but Carolina will need Svechnikov and Aho in order to deliver the knockout blow.
Between a rock and a Hart place
Let's be fair to Carter Hart. This loss was not entirely his fault. The Golden Knights played their worst game of the series, and they deserved to lose. Still, Hart was far from good, and he hasn't been anything better than average for most of the series.
Hart has now allowed 20 goals in five games, and he's the first goalie ever to allow four or more goals in five Stanley Cup Final games. Svechnikov's first goal was especially bad as it slid between the legs of Hart, and the Golden Knights goalie didn't react until the puck was already past him.
No, Hart didn't have a ton of help, but Cup-winning goalies all have to make a few tough saves along the way. Sergei Bobrovsky and Andrei Vasilevskiy didn't coast to multiple Stanley Cups only making the saves they "should" make. They mixed in some show-stoppers in clutch moments to keep their team in the game.
In Game 5, Hart allowed 1.00 goals above average, according to Natural Stat Trick. His high-danger save percentage was an abysmal .500. That's just not going to cut it.
So, with an elimination game coming up on Sunday, what does John Tortorella do? He can't throw Adin Hill, who hasn't played a game in more than two months, into that situation. Hill did lead Vegas to a Stanley Cup in 2023, but throwing him the crease for Game 6 would be a huge risk.
The Golden Knights probably have to stick with Hart, for better or worse. They'll just need to plan on scoring at least five goals and be pleasantly surprised if they need fewer.
Bussi earned a Game 6 start
The Hurricanes have an interesting goalie conundrum of their own, but they're in a much better spot than Vegas. That's because Bussi has given Rod Brind'Amour a lot to think about leading into Game 6.
Per Natural Stat Trick, Bussi saved 1.00 goals above average with a .800 high-danger save percentage. His save on Hertl with under two minutes remaining was the best of the series to this point.
But can Brind'Amour really trust Bussi with the Stanley Cup a mere 60 minutes away? A journeyman in the minor leagues, Bussi isn't even considered a rookie because he made his NHL debut at the age of 27. He has 42 games of NHL experience between the regular season and playoffs combined.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have a 13-year veteran on the roster in Frederik Andersen, who was extraordinary en route to the Stanley Cup Final. Andersen has been scratched for the last two games, and there's some speculation that he may be dealing with an injury. If he's healthy, that makes Brind'Amour's decision a bit tougher.
Ultimately, Bussi has earned the Game 6 start. If all else fails, the Hurricanes will return home for Game 7, but the series won't get that far if Bussi replicates Thursday night's effort.
