Game 6 To Require Canes 'Best Game Yet'

RALEIGH, N.C. - Through five games of the Stanley Cup Final, the Carolina Hurricanes have found different avenues to obtain their 3-2 series advantage.

They've produced quick-strike attacks, had some hot starts, gotten good goaltending, won the special teams battle, and received standout individual performances. Their forecheck has been business as usual, and their defensive prowess has remained a staple.

With all that said, the messaging from the group is that they've yet to put it all together in one 60-minute stretch.

It's something that's not supposed to come easy, especially in the final series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Vegas Golden Knights have their plan of attack and are going to have their way at times, too.

Their third appearance in the Final in the last nine years is no fluke. They have the necessary ingredients to be at this stage, all of which have been on display, and certainly were on display in a four-game ousting of the Presidents' Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche, earning them the right to be in this battle.

However, putting it all together for one game is an assignment the Canes believe they're capable of. Players and coaches believe they've taken steps forward in their latest two victories, and Thursday's Game 5 victory was the closest they've come yet.

Now, they're looking to snowball those performances into a potential series-closing contest on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena.

“I think for a lot of those games, we had a lot of good stretches and a lot of good chances and stuff like that. I think the last two, especially, we’ve done it for the majority of the game, the way we know we can play," Jackson Blake said ahead of the team's afternoon flight to Nevada. "Everyone’s buying in and everything like that. I think as the series goes on, and in any series, you kind of learn what the other team does, and you can kind of adjust your game a little bit to help you be successful in those things in the game. I think we’ve grown, just because we’ve gotten to know a little bit of what they do, and I think we can continue that.”

Winning the second period in Game 5 by a score of 2-0, it was finally a favorable frame after the Golden Knights had outscored Carolina 9-1 through the first quartet of middle stanzas.

"Through the first four (games), our second period seemed to really get us. I thought (Game 5) we did a good job at playing a full 60 (minutes)," Seth Jarvis chimed in. "We didn't really take any breaks. Sometimes the long change can really mess with you a little bit, and I thought we did a better job at managing that and stopping them from kind of getting up the ice quicker in those kinds of situations. I thought we did a good job at kind of focusing on the details and just playing our game."

To delve in a step further, Carolina felt they did their best job yet at halting Vegas' desire to move in transition.

For a team like the Canes, who spend more time in the attacking end than anyone, being aware of the potential blink-of-an-eye counterpunch is a must.

"They like the transition game; they're getting pucks out as quick as possible, and then they have a lot of guys fly the zone. So if we can stay above that, get in on the forecheck and not let their defensemen distribute, that's something that we're going to need to do," Jordan Martinook offered.

Putting it all together is easier said than done. Vegas will not only have the benefit of learning from what's made Rod Brind'Amour's group successful to this point, but they'll also have desperation on their side as they look to keep their own hopes alive.

"[It will require] our best game yet," Martinook continued. "It's going to be us throwing everything we have at them and then them fighting for our lives. It's going to be who can kind of stick with what they want to do longer. [We want to] just try and wear them down and try and be on the right side of it."

Wearing them down, of course, starts with the forecheck and physicality for the Canes. While injuries aren't wished upon, a heavy bump from defenseman Sean Walker in Game 5 forced Golden Knights key center William Karlsson out with an upper-body injury. His head coach, John Torterella, has already ruled him unavailable for Game 6 and hinted that it is unlikely he'll return in this series.

In addition to the list of challenges the best from the West present, the Canes also have to go toe-to-toe with human nature and stay in the here and now.

A once-in-a-lifetime moment, for many anyway, beckons. But now's not the time to look ahead or think about what could be.

“They're an unbelievable team over there. A lot of great players, high skill. This is going to be the hardest one in my opinion, for sure, just because it means so much more," Blake continued. "This is what you dream of, this is what you play for. I know a lot of guys over there have won it before, so they’ve been in this position. It’s going to be tough, but we’re up for it.”

Trying their hardest to treat it just like any other game, the 101st contest together as a group this campaign (regular season + postseason) will start with the same game plan that led to 68 successes through the first 100.

"It's obviously not normal in a traditional sense, but what that means is you've just got to go about your business. There's added distractions, and there's all that added stuff on top of it, but we've got to focus on the normalcy of the game, what that means, and how you go about it," Brind'Amour, who has been in this position before, as a player, said.

"That's all you can do. We understand every game we've played has been intensely hard, and this is nothing different. There's nothing really more we can do about it. You just got to make sure we give our best, and that gives you a chance. That's what you want to have."