Before the Carolina Hurricanes made their comeback, before the Vegas Golden Knights needed a goal with 81 seconds left in regulation to tie it, and before Seth Jarvis scored for the hosts in overtime, the sound of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final was silence.
The home crowd, which had roared at the start of the series, was stunned Thursday night in Raleigh, North Carolina, with their beloved Hurricanes shut out through the first two periods for the first time since mid-January. They were fewer than 15 minutes away from a 2-0 hole that only five of 55 teams have overcome to hoist the storied trophy.
The topsy-turvy ride that followed ended with Carolina winning 4-3 in emotional fashion and making this a competitive series between the last two teams standing in the NHL’s 2025-26 season. Game 3 is Saturday night in Las Vegas.
If it is anything like the first two — Vegas won 5-4 on Tuesday — it is best to expect the unexpected the rest of the way.
“It’s obviously a new series, a five-game series now,” said defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, who leads the Hurricanes with three points so far in the best-of-seven series. “A lot of emotions throughout the games, too. For almost 50 minutes there it’s kind of low, and then kind of even, then really high, then low again, and then high. It’s a roller coaster for sure.”
This Stanley Cup Final is shaping up to be more like a seesaw, with wild momentum swings back and forth. This is the first title series in league history in which each of the first two games featured a multigoal comeback victory.
Carolina is now the first team in 82 years to win a game in the championship round when down by more than one goal within the final 10 minutes of regulation. That would also make Vegas — which fell behind by two goals in the opener — the first team since 1944 to blow such a lead.
“The sport of hockey is funny that way,” Golden Knights center William Karlsson said Friday. “I think that’s why we all love it. It can go either way at any times …. But it’s hockey. It’s a game of mistakes, and it’s bound to happen.”
After cruising through the first three rounds of this year’s playoffs with 12 wins and just one loss, the Hurricanes met their match in the Golden Knights, and that was evident in the opener. What also became clear is that neither team is going to get pushed around for an entire night, even if there are stretches of domination by one side or the other.
“It’s going to be hard to play your best game; that’s the point,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It would be great if you could do it for the whole 60 minutes. But it’s probably not going to be that way because they’re a very, very good team.”
Vegas counterpart John Tortorella emphasized that again before he and his team flew home, insisting he likes where his team is at two games into its biggest challenge yet this postseason. The Golden Knights have stolen home-ice advantage and get to play the next two on the Strip, where Tortorella can better control matchups.
“There’s no difference,” Tortorella said. “We’re going to play. We know how to play. We know how we want to play.”
So do the Hurricanes, and it’s what they displayed at the end of Game 2. Logan Stankoven provided the spark, Mark Jankowski kept it going, and Jordan Staal scored on a power play after Tortorella’s failed goaltender interference challenge became a difference-making moment.
Of course, the Golden Knights dominating for much of the first two periods and the start of the third showed why they’ve been such a buzzsaw since Tortorella took over in late March. Brind’Amour acknowledged the vibes around his team were better than they could have been if not for the turnaround, but neither team should expect to feel too good about itself for too long in a series like this.
Players are embracing that as part of the fun.
“This is exciting,” Jarvis said. “This is what playoff hockey’s all about, is tight games and momentum swings, and you never really know what’s going to happen next. I don’t think you can ask any more of a playoff series.”