Canes Face 16-1 Chase in Vegas Vs Carolina Final
vegas vs carolina now shifts to the Stanley Cup Final, with the Carolina Hurricanes facing the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 at Lenovo Center in Raleigh on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. The Hurricanes enter at 12-1 and can become the first team to finish the playoffs 16-1.
Carolina got here by sweeping the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers, then beating the Montreal Canadiens in five games. Its only loss came in a 6-2 defeat to Montreal in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.
Andersen Drives Carolina
Frederik Andersen has been central to that run. He has posted a 1.41 goals-against average, a.931 save percentage and three shutouts, while Taylor Hall has 1.23 points per game, Jackson Blake has 1.15 and Logan Stankoven has 0.92.
The Hurricanes have also outshot every opponent in every game they have played. That kind of control has put them within one win of a number no team has reached: no club has gone 16-1 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Vegas Under Tortorella
Vegas brings a different kind of run into the Final. The Golden Knights have won 74 playoff games and 15 playoff series since joining the NHL as an expansion team in 2017-18, and they reached the Cup Final in 2018 before winning the Cup in 2023.
Since replacing Bruce Cassidy with John Tortorella as coach on March 29, Vegas has gone 19-4-1. Carter Hart returned from a lower-body injury and took over the net, and the Golden Knights beat the Utah Mammoth in six games in the first round before eliminating the Anaheim Ducks in six games in the next round.
Raleigh Opens The Final
The opener gives Carolina a chance to put the record chase in motion at home. The Hurricanes are trying to turn a 12-1 start into something no playoff team has done, while Vegas is trying to extend the most successful expansion-era postseason resume in the league.
Tuesday night in Raleigh will show whether Carolina keeps stretching that run or whether Vegas turns its 19-4-1 surge into a road win that changes the series immediately.
