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The Vegas Golden Knights narrowly escaped a potentially devastating collapse, rallying to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in double overtime during Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
A stunning four-goal comeback by the Hurricanes in the third period had set the stage for what could have been an historic upset. But Shea Theodore struck at 5:38 of the second overtime, banking a shot off the skate of Carolina’s backup goalie Brandon Bussi, who had been inserted in the third period after sitting out two months, to clinch the win.
“I have experienced a lot of games in playoffs,” Golden Knights coach John Tortorella said. “I haven’t experienced one like this.”
Mitch Marner stole the spotlight with four points, including the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup final history, as Vegas took a 2-1 lead in the series.
The teams will now rest for two days before Game 4 on Tuesday night in Las Vegas. Historically, teams with a 2-1 series advantage have gone on to win the Stanley Cup 46 out of 57 times, or roughly 81 percent.
Carolina came in riding a perfect 6-0 mark in overtime this postseason. They aimed to become the first team to win after trailing by four or more goals in the third period—but that feat remains elusive. Teams in that situation are now 0-109.
“We just left our foot off the gas,” said Theodore. “I think we have to be sharper in the third, but I liked the resiliency out of our group. I liked the way we started that second overtime, and I felt like we were more on our toes.”
This marked the 10th time in Stanley Cup final history that the first three games were decided by a single point. The last time was in 2016 when Pittsburgh faced San Jose.
The Golden Knights appeared firmly in control after exploding for four goals in the second period, highlighted by Marner’s natural hat trick.
But Carolina surged back, with Jordan Martinook, Taylor Hall, and Jordan Staal scoring goals just 39 seconds apart—the fastest trio of goals in Stanley Cup final history.
Andrei Svechnikov then tied the game with a six-on-four power play goal with 1:42 remaining to force overtime.
“I love that we feel like we can come back from anything, but you can’t put yourself in a hole like we did,” Martinook said. “The second period, for them to come out like that and take total control of the game, it’s something that can’t happen, especially at this time.”
Marner’s four-point outburst came during a 6:10 stretch of the second period. He also had a secondary assist on Tomas Hertl’s goal earlier in the frame. His four-point period was the first in a Stanley Cup final since 1919, when Frank Foyston of the Seattle Metropolitans achieved the feat.
Marner missed two key chances in the third—a breakaway and a penalty shot—that ultimately haunted Vegas as Carolina rallied.
The Hurricanes’ comeback was fueled by a goalie switch to Bussi, who made 18 saves, replacing Frederik Andersen, who had allowed all four second-period goals on 16 shots.
Carolina’s comeback came despite missing forward and former Golden Knight William Carrier, who left with an upper-body injury in the second period.
Vegas netminder Carter Hart finished with 29 saves.
Early in the second period, Vegas had two goals disallowed after successful challenges by Carolina, keeping the score tied going into the high-scoring stretch.
A vital boost arrived for Vegas when defenseman Brayden McNabb returned to the ice. McNabb had taken a puck to the face in the first period of Game 2 and did not return that night. Wearing a protective cage, McNabb, the team’s top defensive defenseman, paired on the first defensive pairing with Theodore.