The road to the Stanley Cup began all the way back in September when training camp commenced. Nine months later, the Carolina Hurricanes stood alone on top. Their six-game triumph over the Vegas Golden Knights earned them their second Stanley Cup victory, and their first in 20 years. This team felt like a group of destiny, and they finally silenced a lot of their critics.
This is not to say that the road to victory was easy, by any means. The Vegas Golden Knights gave the Hurricanes all they could handle, especially at the beginning of the series. The Canes were forced to fight through some adversity, but they came out on the other side stronger. For the final time this season, let's look at how the Hurricanes forged their path to the Stanley Cup.
Stories of the Series
A fiery start: Through the first four games, fans were talking about this Stanley Cup Final being an all-time classic. Each game featured a team blowing a multi-goal lead. In Games 1 and 2, it resulted in massive comeback victories. In Games 3 and 4, the team blowing the lead managed to hold on. For a series that was thought to be "boring" coming into it, the Canes and Golden Knights delivered.
Game 1 saw the Canes jump out to a lead, thanks to Nikolaj Ehlers' pair in the opening 13 minutes. Vegas didn't flinch, winning a back-and-forth contest late in regulation. The Canes responded by erasing a deficit in Game 2 to win in overtime. We'll talk more about Game 3 soon, but it's not every day that you see a four-goal comeback. Despite preconceptions, this series was awesome.
A calmer finish: I've said this a million times over the last few months, but the boring games are the Canes' bread and butter. When a game stops becoming exciting, it means that the Hurricanes are playing their system effectively. That's what we saw over the final two games. We went from exciting hockey to "exciting to Canes' fans" hockey.
It took the Canes a little longer to gain the lead in Game 5 after responding to an early Vegas goal on the power play. Their stars took over in the second period, and that was all she wrote as the Canes took their first lead in the series. They scored first in Game 6, and it was lights out the rest of the way. Sentiments about it being a classic Cup Final have quieted a little, and that's fine with me.
Special teams come alive: "Dreadful", "horrible", and "broken" would all be appropriate adjectives to describe the Hurricanes' power play throughout this postseason. Entering the series, the Canes had converted just seven times on 56 attempts (12.5%), though their conversions late in the conference finals felt like a step in the right direction.
At the time, I called their two power-play goals in Game 2 their most important of the season, and it kicked off a stretch from Games 2 through 5 where the team converted on six of their 12 attempts. They finished the series 6-for-19, showcasing a massive improvement at the perfect time. It helped that their penalty kill went 16-for-18 to keep Vegas quiet, too.
One of the best runs ever: The Carolina Hurricanes were chasing history in more ways than one when they took the ice for Game 1. Entering the series, they'd only lost once, sweeping Ottawa and Philadelphia before beating Montreal in five games. While they failed to set a new low for losses by a Stanley Cup winner, they put themselves in prestigious company.
The Canes finished their run with three losses, leaving them alone in second place since the league changed its postseason format in 1987. Only the 1987-88 Edmonton Oilers finished with fewer (2), and that team included Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr, and many other superstars. It's not bad company to keep.
Best Moment: Seth Jarvis sends the Canes to Vegas tied
I went back and forth about which moment to put here. I ultimately landed on Seth Jarvis tying the series in Game 2 for a few reasons. Without this moment, I'm not sure anyone in the hockey community would've been convinced that a Hurricanes Stanley Cup win would be possible. All of that changed on the power play in overtime of the second game.
The captain deserves the credit for drawing the call against Tomas Hertl. There were so many moving pieces to this goal. Shayne Gostisbehere sold the shot to freeze Carter Hart. Nikolaj Ehlers added another layer and jumped to give the impression that the fake shot from the point was coming. Then, Jarvis put the one-timer in a spot that Hart couldn't get to. The fans sure seemed to enjoy it, too.
Best Game: An instant classic ends on a bizarre bounce
Usually, the best games are the ones when the Hurricanes emerge victorious. In this case, the Canes lost Game 3. Yet, this might have been the most exciting game of the playoffs. After a scoreless first period, Mitch Marner took over, assisting on Vegas' opening goal before scoring three in a row to give the Golden Knights a 4-0 lead on home ice. They appeared well on their way to a 2-1 series lead.
Something changed in the third period. Brandon Bussi took over for Frederik Andersen and stopped Marner's penalty shot that would've made it 5-0. Then, the Canes scored three times in 39 seconds, breaking a Stanley Cup Final record. Andrei Svechnikov added the tying goal late on the power play. All of a sudden, the Canes were one shot away from a 2-1 lead.
Instead, Shea Theodore played pinball and won it for Vegas in double overtime, ruining the moment. Still, there's no denying how incredible a game it was. In many ways, this loss helped turn things around. They had a new starting goalie for the remainder of the series, and the team seemed to respond well. Obviously, something worked for the Hurricanes.
Three Stars of the Series
Third Star: Frederik Andersen got the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup Final, but a knee injury prevented him from finishing the job. That's when Brandon Bussi, who hadn't played since the end of the regular season, seized his moment. Bussi was excellent in relief during the aforementioned 2OT loss in Game 3, and he continued that into three very good starts.
The culmination of his incredible first year in the NHL came with his 22-save shutout in Game 6 to finish the job. Bussi made a few highlight-reel stops in the game, and he got a little help from the iron throughout, too. In four games, Bussi posted a 1.60 GAA and a .931 save percentage, allowing just six goals on 87 shots. Not bad for a player with no NHL playoff experience.
Second Star: When Nikolaj Ehlers decided to come to Raleigh last July, many wondered if he would be the missing piece to get the Hurricanes into the winner's circle. Just 25 seconds into Game 1, Ehlers showed that he was ready for the moment. He scored once more in the game before a few quieter games. That changed at the end of the series.
Ehlers posted back-to-back three-point performances in Games 4 and 5. He had the empty-net goal and added two helpers to tie the series in Vegas. Then, he assisted on three of the team's four goals in Game 5. To finish the job, Ehlers put the puck into the empty net again in Game 6, giving him a team-high nine points in the Stanley Cup Final.
First Star: If there was ever a better player to follow in Rod Brind'Amour's footsteps and receive the Stanley Cup as the captain from the commissioner for the Hurricanes, Jordan Staal is probably right up there. The captain has led by example since 2012, and never was that more apparent than during this Stanley Cup Final.
Staal led all skaters in the series with six goals, scoring at least once in each of the first five games. He picked up two goals in Game 4, including one as he fell on his stomach, which served as the game-winner. Staal also won 68 percent of his draws in the series, setting a new Stanley Cup Final record. He was a deserving recipient of the Conn Smythe Trophy.
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