The Vegas Golden Knights, a team and organization that has been a lot of places in a very short time, is headed somewhere new.
Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final has previously been the borderline for the Golden Knights whether in victory (2023) or defeat (2018). Now deadlocked in the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at two wins apiece with the Carolina Hurricanes, Vegas is confirmed for its first ever Game 6 of the Final with the Stanley Cup in the building come this Sunday at T-Mobile Arena.
Before that can happen, there is the matter of Thursday’s Game 5 in Raleigh set for 5 p.m. PT. The winner will whittle its magic number to one and can raise the Stanley Cup in T-Mobile Arena on Sunday night.
That’s where we are right now. The stakes have been raised. Winning Game 5 will get one of these two teams right up beside the Stanley Cup.
A two-game win streak right now gets Vegas or Carolina the Cup. Neither team has been able to win two-in-a-row so far in the best-of-seven series.
It hasn’t been easy for either side. We’re reminded of a Frederick Douglass quote: “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour was asked if he was having fun in the series following his team’s Game 4 win.
“Not really. It’s pretty stressful,” admitted the coach.
On the Vegas side, the Golden Knights were looking in the mirror following Tuesday’s 5-3 loss on home ice.
“The most frustrating thing for me is they don’t earn the winning goal,” said head coach John Tortorella. “It’s not so much the turnover. Carter (Hart) makes a great save and then we make another mistake. We leave the front of the net.”
Prior to Game 4, Golden Knights winger Brett Howden said his team was still searching for its best game.
“We’re not satisfied,” said Howden on Tuesday morning.
Both teams have missed opportunities in this series. The margin between the clubs is indistinguishable to this point.
Tortorella has leaned heavily on, “We need to be better,” throughout the playoffs.
It’s a cliché which gets used during playoffs, but it rings true.
The team which can find another level and eliminate more rough spots from their game than the other will likely come out on top in what is now a best-of-three series.
Home ice hasn’t meant anything in this series in terms of results. Both clubs are 1-1 in their respective buildings.
The Golden Knights head to Raleigh today in search of a win. Tortorella tweaked his lines a bit in the last two games. How he deploys his skaters in Game 5 will be a story of interest.
Hart has allowed four goals in each of the first four games in this series but that’s a misleading statistic. He’s made big saves in big moments but put in a few impossible situations.
Vegas is averaging four goals per game in the series as well. They’ve also hit six posts and had four goals come off the board due to review. Those goals may not have counted but they still show excellent play from the Golden Knights. The path is there for Vegas.
We’ll borrow from Tortorella once again: Stay patient, stick with the game-plan and find a way.
Game 5 in one of the best Stanley Cup Final series in recent memory is next. Try not to let it stress you out.
Editor’s note: Stick tap to the well-read Katy Boettinger for the Douglass quote. Boettinger, director of hockey administration with the Golden Knights, is a woman of letters who has her name on the Stanley Cup and in her waking hours makes the trains run on time for all things hockey with the VGK.
