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The Stanley Cup playoffs lost some momentum after the Montreal Canadiens were eliminated last Friday. Whether you love them or not, the Canadiens brought significant interest as an Original Six team aiming to end Canada’s long championship drought.
Still, we have a compelling final between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes, who open the best-of-seven series on Tuesday.
The Hurricanes have taken the league by storm this season. Despite playing in a non-traditional hockey market and a history of playoff disappointments, they proved they are a real contender. Carolina finished second overall in the regular season and earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference. They boast a remarkable 12-1 playoff record, the first team to reach the final with fewer than two losses since the NHL adopted best-of-seven rounds in 1987.
Their only loss came in Game 1 of the Eastern final against Montreal. That came after an 11-day layoff following their sweeps of Ottawa and Philadelphia. The Hurricanes bounced back with two overtime wins and dominated the following games, scoring 10-1 combined to secure their first Stanley Cup final appearance since winning the title in 2006 against Edmonton.
Carolina enters the final as slight favorites, with betting odds suggesting about a 58 percent chance they will claim the Cup.
Vegas is also on a hot streak. The Golden Knights have revolutionized what an expansion franchise can achieve, reaching the final in their inaugural 2018 season, winning the Cup in 2023, and returning to the final now in their ninth season.
However, Vegas seemed to be struggling late in the season. With eight games remaining, they were 23rd in regulation wins and third in the Pacific Division, barely hanging on to the playoff picture. That changed when general manager Kelly McCrimmon fired head coach Bruce Cassidy and replaced him with John Tortorella, who was working as an ESPN analyst after being let go by Philadelphia about a year earlier.
Tortorella’s arrival sparked a turnaround. Vegas went 7-0-1 down the stretch, won the Pacific Division, and then beat Utah and Anaheim in six-game series. They capped it off with a surprising sweep of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado, decimated by injuries.
Vegas becomes only the third team to reach the final after a coaching change in the last 10 regular-season games, and the first since New Jersey won the Cup in 2000 under Larry Robinson. Tortorella hasn’t been to the final since 2004, making this a 22-year gap—the longest ever for an NHL coach.
Carolina’s strength also lies behind the bench with 55-year-old Rod Brind’Amour. The former two-way centre captained the Hurricanes to their 2006 Stanley Cup and retired in 2010. The team missed the playoffs every year until Brind’Amour became head coach in 2018-19. Since then, Carolina has made the playoffs eight straight years, with four conference final appearances. He has a chance to be the first man since Montreal’s Toe Blake in 1956 to win as both a player and coach with the same franchise.
Known for his work ethic and defensive skill—he won the Selke Trophy twice—Brind’Amour’s Hurricanes are tough, applying relentless pressure and firing shots from all angles.
Mitch Marner is shining in Vegas. After nine seasons with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, Marner moved to Vegas in free agency last summer via a sign-and-trade deal, signing an eight-year, $98 million US contract. Though his regular season numbers dipped, with 24 goals and 80 points in 81 games compared to 27 goals and 102 points last season, Marner has elevated his game in the playoffs. He leads all scorers with 21 points in 16 games, on a 107-point pace.
Jack Eichel, who led Vegas in points during their 2023 championship run, is second this year with 18 points. Forwards Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden share the goals lead at 10 apiece. Goalie Carter Hart, who joined in November after being reinstated following an acquittal in a high-profile court case, has gone 12-4 with a strong .924 save percentage.
Taylor Hall is having a resurgence. The former No. 1 overall pick and 2018 Hart Trophy winner had a journeyman career after his MVP season with New Jersey. Now with Carolina—the seventh team in his 16-year career—the 34-year-old is making his first Stanley Cup final appearance after 1,056 games played. Among No. 1 picks, only Joe Thornton, Dale Hawerchuk, and Alex Ovechkin took longer to reach this stage.
Hall has been outstanding recently. After a modest 18 goals and 48 points in the regular season, he leads the Hurricanes with 16 playoff points, including five goals and the first playoff overtime winner of his career in the second round against Philadelphia.
Hall and second-line mates Jackson Blake (15 points) and Logan Stankoven (12) have stepped up while the top line of Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, and Seth Jarvis has been quiet, averaging about seven points each. Goalie Frederik Andersen has been superb, leading the playoffs with a 1.41 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage, the best among netminders with more than four games played.
In other NHL news, Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski won his first Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenceman. Meanwhile, Colorado’s general manager Chris MacFarland left the Avalanche to become the president and GM of the Nashville Predators. Vancouver’s NHL and PWHL teams also made coaching changes: the Canucks named Manny Malhotra their new head coach, and the Vancouver Goldeneyes parted ways with Brian Idalski after one season.
