High-scoring, history-making, lead-blowing hockey is on full display in\u00a0the Stanley Cup Final\u00a0between the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes. But is it among the greatest finals ever played?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEveryone that texts me is saying it\u2019s the best hockey they\u2019ve ever watched,\u201d Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. \u201cIt\u2019s been fun to play. There\u2019s a lot of momentum swings in the games, and I feel like it\u2019s one of those series where you don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That unpredictability has made it must-see entertainment every night since the series began, which is reflected in this being the most-watched final in more than a decade. The teams are tied 2-2 going into Game 5 on Thursday night in Raleigh, and a Game 6 is guaranteed to have the Cup in the building Saturday night in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A look at what has made this one of the best finals in recent history:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Game 1, Carolina led 2-0 a little over 12 minutes in, fell behind 3-2 and tied it again late before\u00a0losing\u00a0on Tomas Hertl\u2019s\u00a0go-ahead goal\u00a0with 3:24 left in the third period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Game 2, Vegas led 2-0 with less than 10 minutes left in regulation, before\u00a0a flurry of four goals\u00a0\u2014 and\u00a0one that was called off\u00a0\u2014 with Mark Stone tying it with 81 seconds remaining. With Hertl in the penalty box,\u00a0Seth Jarvis scored\u00a0in overtime\u00a0to win it\u00a0for the Hurricanes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Game 3, the Golden Knights led 4-0 in the third after\u00a0Mitch Marner\u2019s hat trick\u00a0led to a\u00a0Carolina goalie change. The Hurricanes scored four in a row to come all the way back, and then Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore\u2019s shot off the boards banked in off goaltender Brandon Bussi 5:38 into the second OT\u00a0to end it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Game 4, Carolina led 2-0 and 3-1 only for Vegas to tie it again. Hurricanes captain\u00a0Jordan Staal scored\u00a0the go-ahead goal with 13:28 left on the way to\u00a0evening the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the first final in NHL history to feature a multigoal comeback to tie the score in each of the first four games. Each of the first two were comeback wins, one shy of the most in a final: three games each in 1950 and \u201987.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So much for a\u00a0defensive struggle. These teams came in allowing the fewest and third-fewest goals in the playoffs through the first three rounds. They have instead combined to score 33 through four games, the highest total since the New York Islanders and Minnesota North Stars had 36 in 1981.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 There were at least four goals scored in each period from the second in Game 3 through the first in Game 4. It\u2019s just the second time that has happened three regulation periods in a row, and the first since the Islanders and Flyers during a span in Games 5 and 6 in 1980.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Vegas forward Brett Howden leads all goal-scorers this postseason with 14, breaking the franchise record set by Jonathan Marchessault on the way to\u00a0winning the Conn Smythe Trophy\u00a0as playoff MVP on the Golden Knights\u2019\u00a02023 Stanley Cup run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Marner\u2019s natural hat trick \u2014 three goals in a row \u2014 came in a span of 6 minutes, 10 seconds. That is by far the fastest in a final, breaking Ted Lindsay\u2019s mark of 11 minutes, 27 seconds for Detroit in 1955.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 The Hurricanes are the third team to score four-plus goals in each of the first games of the final after Montreal in 1973 and Boston in 1970. Their Game 3 breakout was the fastest three goals in the history of the final, coming in a span of 39 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Staal\u2019s gap between goals in the final \u2014 from June 9, 2009, with Pittsburgh, until Game 1 on June 2, a span of 6,202 days \u2014 broke brother Eric\u2019s record of 6,198 from \u201806-\u201923, according to Sportradar. Jordan is the first player since Mario Lemieux in 1992 to score five goals in the first four games of the final and first since Mike Bossy in \u201982 to score in each of the first four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is just the third Cup final in which the score has been tied at some point in the third period in each of the first four games. It last happened between Chicago and Tampa Bay in 2015 and St. Louis and Montreal in 1968.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first three games were all decided by a goal for just the 10th time. A n empty-netter by Nikolaj Ehlers in Game 4, a long-range clearance that was\u00a0something of a highlight\u00a0itself, was the only thing keeping it from being four in a row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite these being teams in smaller, so-called nontraditional markets, the country is tuned in. The first three games are the most-watched final since the Blackhawks against the Lightning 11 years ago, with an average of 4.9 million viewers on ABC. ESPN\/ABC said Game 3 was the most-watched in the final since Carolina-Detroit in 2002, with 5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This has not exactly been a goaltending series for the ages, though Vegas\u2019 Carter Hart and Carolina\u2019s Frederik Andersen and Bussi have each made some big-time saves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hart, Andersen and Bussi have a combined save percentage of .855, which is on pace to be the lowest in the final since the .850 in 1973 for the series between Montreal and Chicago. That is significantly lower than even\u00a0the league average of .896\u00a0during the regular season that was the lowest since 1993-94.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bussi in Game 4 became the third goalie to make his first NHL playoff start in the final and win it (Hank Bassen in 1961 and Alfie Moore in 1938).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Andersen picking up the Game 2 victory, the Hurricanes are the first team since Edmonton in 1984 to have two goalies each win a start in the final. The only teams to win the Cup with multiple goaltenders starting and winning in the final are the \u201884 Oilers and \u201972 Bruins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
High-scoring, history-making, lead-blowing hockey is on full display in\u00a0the Stanley Cup Final\u00a0between the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes. But is it among the greatest finals ever played? \u201cEveryone that texts me is saying it\u2019s the best hockey they\u2019ve ever watched,\u201d Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. \u201cIt\u2019s been fun to play. There\u2019s a lot of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12903],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-415917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-12903"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":415918,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415917\/revisions\/415918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}