Golden Knights eye a 3-1 edge as a wild Stanley Cup Final heads to Game
4
[June 09, 2026]
By MARK ANDERSON
LAS VEGAS (AP) — In a Stanley Cup Final filled with
more twists and turns than a Six Flags roller coaster, it's difficult to
imagine what more could be in store when the Carolina Hurricanes visit
the Vegas Golden Knights for Game 4 on Tuesday.
There certainly is plenty at stake. |
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mitch Marner, top, celebrates his goal
with center Tomas Hertl during the second period in Game 3 of the NHL
hockey Stanley Cup Final series against the Carolina Hurricanes,
Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Candice Ward) |
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Should the Golden Knights win and take a 3-1 series lead, they
will be in an almost unbeatable position. Teams with such an
advantage in the final are 38-1, the one defeat occurring 84
years ago when Detroit lost a 3-0 lead and fell to Toronto.
A Hurricanes victory would not only even the best-of-seven
series, but regain home-ice advantage with potentially two of
the three remaining games in Carolina.
Good luck trying to predict where this series will go. What was
largely expected to be a high-checking, low-scoring championship
round has been wide open at times, with each team capitalizing
on the other's mistakes. The teams have combined to score 25
goals, the highest total through three games in the final since
the New York Islanders and Minnesota North Stars had 30 in 1981.
There have been blown leads of at least two goals in each game.
Vegas rallied from such a deficit in Game 1 and Carolina did it
in Game 2.
Then came the real doozy in Saturday night's Game 3 when the
Golden Knights led 4-0 well into the third period before the
Hurricanes scored three goals in a record 39 seconds. Carolina
eventually forced overtime, but the Golden Knights won in double
OT when Shea Theodore bounced a puck off the boards that caromed
off goalie Brandon Bussi's skate.
Because of course it did.
Bussi, who hadn't played in two months, entered in the third
period after coach Rod Brind'Amour had seen enough of Frederik
Andersen. The Golden Knights couldn't figure out Bussi until
that final wacky shot, so he might start Tuesday. Brind'Amour
said he knows who will start, but isn't letting on.
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