Hurricanes ready to give ‘everything we have’ on verge of Stanley Cup

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The message flashed on the scoreboard after the final horn, as the fans roared and twirled their rally towels in celebration and anticipation.

“Y’ALL WANT THE CUP?”

One more win, and the Carolina Hurricanes will hoist it for the first time in 20 years.

The Hurricanes defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at Lenovo Center on Thursday, taking a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series.

They can finish it in Game 6 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC).

“It’s huge, obviously,” Carolina forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. “It’s going to be really hard. It’s going to be a really tough game. But we’re excited for it. We’re ready for it. This team has been working all year for moments like these and especially this moment.”

No one should write off the Golden Knights, who won the Cup in 2023 and have proven their resiliency repeatedly. Vegas coach John Tortorella projected confidence that they could force a Game 7 here Wednesday, saying, “We’ll be back here.”

“I’m going to leave my clothes here,” he added. “That’s for sure. They’ll be in the hotel.”

That said, Tortorella might want to leave a forwarding address, just in case the hotel needs to ship him his stuff.

The first four games in this series were back and forth. But now the Hurricanes have won two straight and three out of four, making them 15-3 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

They can finish with the second-best playoff record since the NHL went to four best-of-7 series in 1987. The Edmonton Oilers went 16-2 in 1988.

To win the series, Vegas must defeat Carolina in two straight games. The Hurricanes haven’t lost two straight in the playoffs.

“I think we’ve gone through a lot of emotion, a lot of ups and downs,” captain Jordan Staal said. “The guys have consistently stuck with what we do. I thought tonight was one of our better games for that, and it’s starting to look more and more like Hurricane hockey, and we’ve got to keep riding that.”

The Hurricanes didn’t like their first period Thursday, but they came out of it tied 1-1.

Then, after being outscored in the second period 9-1 through the first four games, they took a 3-1 lead in the second and extended it to 4-1 in the third.

They have many reasons to be optimistic.

Staal scored for the fifth straight game Thursday, tying the NHL record for the longest goal streak in the Cup Final, last reached by Yvan Cournoyer of the Montreal Canadiens in 1973. Staal has six goals in the series at age 37, tying the record for the most goals in the Cup Final by a player 37 or older set by Brad Marchand of the Florida Panthers at 37 last year.

Center Sebastian Aho scored for the first time in six games and second time in 14 games Thursday, and forward Andrei Svechnikov scored twice. The power play went 2-for-5 and has scored six times on its past 12 attempts.

Then there’s goalie Brandon Bussi, who relieved Frederik Andersen in Game 3 and now has won the first two playoff starts of his NHL career.

“I hope we’re getting better, and I think there are certain areas of our game that are starting to look a lot like we need it to look,” said coach Rod Brind’Amour, who captained the Hurricanes when they last won the Cup in 2006. “But I do think there’s still another level that we’re going to need to get to to find that next one.”

While Carolina seems to be getting stronger, Vegas seems to be getting weaker.

The Golden Knights lost center William Karlsson to an apparent arm injury in the second period Thursday, just before the Hurricanes broke open the game. Tortorella gave no update, then said, “He’s not going to be with us probably.” Karlsson would be a huge loss.

Goalie Carter Hart allowed four goals for the fifth straight game, extending his Cup Final record.

“It’s like every other series,” Staal said. “The fourth one’s always the hardest, and it’s got to be executed well. Their backs are against the wall. It’s going to (take) everything we have. That’s the bottom line.”

Brind’Amour said it’s probably good there are two days before Game 6. The teams must travel across the country, and the Hurricanes must deal with everything that comes with a potential clincher, including ticket requests and travel plans for family and friends.

“We’ve got to get that all figured out and then get ready to play a game, because we know how hard it’s going to be, and refocus,” he said. “But I don’t think it’ll be too hard to focus this group.”