LAS VEGAS — A four-goal lead in what has been a wacky, compelling and highly entertaining Stanley Cup Final nearly wasn’t enough for the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night.
A four-goal, third-period rally by the Carolina Hurricanes nearly made NHL history, sending shock waves through T-Mobile Arena in the process.
And then this game ended in a way perhaps befitting all the craziness, a shot from Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore off the skate of Brandon Bussi — the backup goalie Carolina put in the game in the third period after not playing for two months — that went into the net at 5:38 of double overtime to give the Golden Knights a 5-4 victory over the Hurricanes.
“I have experienced a lot of games in playoffs,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “I haven’t experienced one like this.”
Almost overlooked was the four-point night by Vegas wing Mitch Marner, who also produced the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup Final history.
The Golden Knights took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. The teams get two days off before meeting in Game 4 on Tuesday night in Las Vegas. Teams with a 2-1 series lead went on to win the title series 46 of 57 times, or 80.7%.
Carolina had been 6-0 in overtime this postseason. The Hurricanes were trying to become the first team to win after trailing by at least four goals in the third period, but now clubs in that situation are 0-109.
“We just left our foot off the gas,” Theodore said on the ABC broadcast. “I think we have to be sharper in the third, but I liked the resiliency out of our group. I liked the way we started that second overtime, and I felt like we were more on our toes.”
This was the 10th time the first three games of a Stanley Cup Final were decided by a point. The last time was in 2016, between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the San Jose Sharks.
The Golden Knights seemed to have it in hand after scoring four times in the second period, including a natural hat trick by Marner.
And then Jordan Martinook, Taylor Hall and Jordan Staal scored goals for the Hurricanes. Their goals, occurring 39 seconds apart, are the fastest three in a Stanley Cup Final game.
Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov jammed in a puck on a six-on-four power play with 1:42 left to force overtime.
“I love that we feel like we can come back from anything, but you can’t put yourself in a hole like we did,” Martinook said. “The second period, for them to come out like that and take total control of the game, it’s something that can’t happen, especially this time.”
Marner’s scoring outburst came in a 6:10 stretch of the second period, and he had four points in the frame. He had the secondary assist on Tomas Hertl’s goal midway through the period.
The last time a player had four points in a period of the title series was in 1919, when Frank Foyston of the Seattle Metropolitans pulled off that feat.
Marner nearly added to the total in the third period, but he failed to capitalize on a breakaway and a penalty shot. Those missed chances came back to bite the Golden Knights, at least temporarily.
The Hurricanes made the comeback after changing goalies to open the third period, going with Bussi, who made 18 saves. Frederik Andersen had given up those four goals on 16 shots.
Carolina also rallied without forward William Carrier, a former Vegas player who had an upper-body injury in the second period.
Carter Hart stopped 29 shots in the net for Vegas.
The Golden Knights twice thought they took the lead early in the second period, but the Hurricanes successfully challenged both goals to keep the game scoreless.
The Golden Knights received a major boost when defenseman Brayden McNabb took the ice. He took a puck in the face in the first period Thursday night at Carolina and didn’t return to the game. McNabb, who had on a cage to protect his face, is the team’s best defender. He was on the first defensive pair with Theodore.