The Vegas Golden Knights were 2023 Stanley Cup champions so it stands to reason they have a lot of championship round experience.
The Carolina Hurricanes haven’t been to the Stanley Cup Final since they won it all in 2006, so it stands to reason that they don’t.
Advertisement
The Golden Knights have 13 players with Stanley Cup titles, including key players Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Ivan Barbashev and Shea Theodore.
The Hurricanes have only two: captain Jordan Staal (who won in 2009) and William Carrier (who won with Vegas in 2023).
But that’s in the past. How are the teams faring in this postseason?
The Golden Knights (4-0 vs. Colorado Avalanche) and Hurricanes (4-1 vs. Montreal Canadiens) are in the 2026 Stanley Cup Final after dominant performances in the conference finals. Here’s how they size up:
Offense
The Golden Knights have the playoffs’ top scorers in Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel and two 10-goal scorers in Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden. Mark Stone is back from an injury. The Hurricanes have the hottest line in the playoffs with Logan Stankoven, Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake. The Sebastian Aho line hasn’t broken through yet in the playoffs. If it does, this is a different series, but for now, it hasn’t.
Advertisement
Edge: Golden Knights
Defense
The Golden Knights push teams to the outside and block shots. The Hurricanes make it difficult to get out of the zone. Carolina’s Jaccob Slavin is one of the best shutdown defensemen in the league. K’Andre Miller was a solid offseason addition who has a league-best +14 plus-minus. Sean Walker is at +13. Hurricanes defensemen have better puck possession numbers than the Golden Knights do. Vegas gets better offensive numbers from the blue line. Shea Theodore (four goals, 11 points) is the top-scoring defenseman in the series, but he also averages 4.12 giveaways per 60 minutes.
Edge: Hurricanes
Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin (74) challenges Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki (14) for the puck during the conference finals.
Goaltending
Carolina’s Frederik Andersen gave up eight goals in the two losses in the season series, but Andersen is a changed goalie since the playoffs began. His regular season goals-against average was 3.05 and now it’s 1.44. Vegas’ Carter Hart, who faces more shots, is at 2.22. Moneypuck.com lists Andersen’s goals saved above expected at 11.5, compared with Hart’s 7.7. Andersen is motivated to win for his late agent Claude Lemieux, the four-time Stanley Cup winner who died on May 28.
Advertisement
Edge: Hurricanes
Coaching
Vegas’ John Tortorella won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004, but he hasn’t been back to the final since. Rod Brind’Amour hasn’t won a Cup as a coach but did as captain of the Hurricanes in 2006. Tortorella gets kudos for turning around the team after it fired coach Bruce Cassidy with eight games left in the season and for sweeping the powerhouse Avalanche in a series involving two comebacks. Brind’Amour gets kudos for his video session after Carolina lost Game 1 to the Canadiens. The Hurricanes emerged in the next game as a different-looking team and dominated Montreal territorially for four games in a row to close out the series.
Edge: Hurricanes
Advertisement
Special teams
The Golden Knights’ power play clicks at 23.9%, compared with the Hurricanes’ 12.5%. But Carolina have a better penalty kill (92.5%) than the Golden Knights’ (87.5%).
Edge: Even
Prediction
Hurricanes in six games.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stanley Cup Final matchup: Do Golden Knights, Hurricanes have edge?
