LAS VEGAS — We’ve seen it both within games and within series all post-season long.
When the Hurricanes suffer what appears to be a devastating blow, they counter back. No better example than Saturday’s third-period rally from a 4-0 deficit after two periods to force overtime against the Golden Knights in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Every time Carolina has lost in these playoffs, the Hurricanes have turned around and swiped the next one. In fact, the Canes haven’t suffered consecutive losses since Jan. 12 and 13, at Detroit and St. Louis. That’s a ridiculous 52-game run.
They stop bleeding better than gauze.
“We’re a really mature group, just knowing that we try to get to our game again, whatever happens,” goalie Frederik Andersen explains. “Obviously, you’re not going to win every game, but coming back and responding by really putting it on them, in terms of putting stress on them with our high-pressure type game.”
A response is paramount Tuesday in Game 4 (Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT). We can’t see Vegas — equally mature — dropping three straight.
Teams that take a 3-1 series lead in a Cup Final own an all-time record of 38-1 (.974). Yikes.
Good news for Carolina: Clubs that trailed 2-1 have won four of the past five Game 4s as visitors.
Carolina’s loss in double-overtime snapped its streak of six straight OT wins this post-season, and eight straight since 2025
One more period and Cole Smith might have made NHL history in Game 3.
As part of the Golden Knights’ plan to use their size to wear down opponents, the team’s fourth-liner was credited with a whopping 14 hits in Saturday’s double-overtime win.
It was the highest number of hits seen in these playoffs.
Since hits were first tracked in 2005-06, it is tied for the third most in a playoff game, behind Brenden Morrow’s 19 hits on May 4, 2008 and Ville Nieminen’s 15 on May 7, 2006.
In fact, only four times since hits were tracked has a player had more than Smith’s 14 wallops in a game.
“Smitty plays a heavy game, and you know that’s what’s made him successful over his career,” said linemate Nic Dowd.
“He’s a bit of a horse, so I’m sure he felt fine after the game. It’s great for our team. It’s not necessarily trying to blow a guy up, or put someone into the third row, but if you can invest on players by continually just being in their face, bumping them, staying above them, making it challenging for them to get up the ice, it eventually will take its toll.”
Second period is a killer
The Cup Final has a narrow one-goal differential over its 12 periods, yet the Golden Knights are outscoring the Hurricanes by a 7-1 margin in Period 2, throwing a wrench into Carolina’s strong starts.
“They’re doing some different things in the second period with the line change, and they’re firing things up a lot,” Taylor Hall has noticed. “It’s on us as forwards to try and change better ourselves. But if you can’t get off, can you take away that far side? Can you hang back a little bit, not give them that 60-yard bomb?”
Breakaways and odd-man rushes have put a strain on Andersen, particularly in the middle frame.
“It’s like in football. Just kind of playing some more zone and waiting for things to happen. But give them credit — they’ve got some fast guys, some big guys that get behind us, and that’s one of their focuses.”
Second-period defence and smart line changes have been a focus of coach Rod Brind’Amour’s study sessions following the Mitch Marner–led 4-0 period that blew Game 3 open.
The Hurricanes brand is man-on-man aggressiveness and pinching in the O-zone to sustain pressure. But a smart, quick-thinking opponent can flip pucks out for battles or spring an opportunistic striker with a clean stretch pass.
“Exactly. And that’s why it’s important for us,” Hall continues. “People make fun of us all the time for our shot attempts, but if we get in the offensive zone and we shoot it, and then it’s a faceoff, that’s a win for us. That allows us some good field position and allows us to start our shift in the best possible way. And if you can change on time, especially in that second period, it gives you an advantage.”
With Brind’Amour keeping his starting goalie decision under wraps, several Golden Knights were asked if it required any adjustment at all to suddenly face a goalie like Brandon Bussi, who unlike Andersen, catches with his right hand.
“No, there’s no difference on the shooters,” said John Tortorella.
“We don’t care who’s playing, what hand, what feet, we’re just gonna play.”
Marner alluded to the need to adjust slightly to an “off-handed” goalie after Game 3 when he was caught off guard on his penalty shot by the goalie change to Bussi at the start of the third period.
“I don’t think it really matters when you’re playing the game and you’re in the moment — you’re not trying to see what he does,” said Ivan Barbashev.
“If we have a chance, we’re probably going to shoot the same way we’re going to shoot on another goalie too, even if we see some spots or not spots.”
Nikolaj Ehlers isn’t just a player. He’s an owner.
The NHL star has become the majority stakeholder of his hometown Danish hockey club, the Aalborg Pirates. The winger’s father, Heinz, also holds a piece as part of a small group of local investors keeping the club alive.
“Well, it’s my hometown hockey team. At the time there was some financial struggles. It’s something that I always dreamed of — at some point,” Ehlers says of the purchase. “It wasn’t supposed to be already, but at the same time I wanted to be a part of it.”
The Pirates’ former chairman of the board, Morten Fals, described Ehlers’ investment as “a dream scenario.”
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Aalborg fell into financial peril when former director Lars Laursen tampered with accounts. The board learned that the team was in more debt than imagined, asking fans and creditors for support to keep the club competitive.
Ehlers and his pocketbook came to the rescue.
“I wanted to come in and bring some people in that could create something that hasn’t been there for a few years,” Ehlers says. “So far, we’ve done some pretty great things. Again, it means a lot to me. I need hockey in my hometown.”
Fourth-line forward and ex-Knight William Carrier — the only Hurricane outside of Jordan Staal with a ring — suffered an unspecified upper-body injury Saturday that ended his night after just four shifts in Period 2.
So, it was a relief to see Carrier as a full participant in Monday’s practice. Surely, he benefits from the extra off-day.
Carolina’s projected Game 4 lineup includes a right-wing flip of Jordan Martinook and Seth Jarvis. Incredible balance through the top nine.
While their starting goaltender remains a mystery, on purpose:
Svechnikov – Aho – Martinook
Hall – Stankoven – Blake
Ehlers – Staal – Jarvis
Carrier – Jankowski – Robinson
Slavin – Chatfield
Miller – Walker
Gostisbehere – Nikishin
Barbashev – Eichel – Dorofeyev
Howden – Karlsson – Marner
Hertl – Sissons – Stone
Smith – Dowd – Kolesar
McNabb – Theodore
Hanifin – Andersson
Coghlan – Lauzon