Hurricanes, Golden Knights surge into Cup Final on historic playoff runs

The Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in sports, but the Carolina Hurricanes have made it look easy.

So far.

They will face a challenge unlike any they've seen in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when they play the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final with Game 1 at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Amid all the storylines, none is bigger than this: Carolina has been the most dominant playoff team in recent history and can finish as one of the most dominant playoff teams of all time.

The Hurricanes are 12-1 -- and their lone loss was 6-2 to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final, when they were rusty after an 11-day break between series, victims of their own success.

You've got to go back a half century to find the last team to start the playoffs 12-1, when the Canadiens finished 12-1 in 1976. The NHL had 18 teams back then and 12 made the postseason. As a division winner, Montreal received a bye in the best-of-3 preliminary round and had to win three best-of-7 series.

Since 1987, teams have had to win four best-of-7 series to hoist the Stanley Cup, making the playoffs an even more grueling test of will and skill. The NHL introduced a salary cap in 2005-06, evening the talent across the League. Today the NHL has 32 teams; only half make the postseason.

No one has gone 16-1 in the playoffs. The Edmonton Oilers went 16-2 in 1988. Five teams have gone 16-4, but only two have done it in the cap era: the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.

So, the Hurricanes can make history with a sweep. They can tie the 1988 Oilers if they win in five games. They can hold the second-best playoff record of this era if they win in six. Even if they win in seven, they'll tie for the second-best playoff record in this era.

The Hurricanes look like a machine. They play a suffocating system, pressuring all over the ice, pumping pucks on net, limiting pucks to their net. They have outshot their opponents in every game they've played. They're so overwhelming that it looks like they have six or seven skaters on the ice at times.

Taylor Hall (1.23 points per game), Jackson Blake (1.15) and Logan Stankoven (0.92) have led them up front. K'Andre Miller has been outstanding on defense. Goalie Frederik Andersen has been a wall with a 1.41 goals-against average, .931 save percentage and three shutouts.

But here's the rub: The Hurricanes swept the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference First Round, swept the Philadelphia Flyers in the second and defeated the Canadiens in five games in the third.

The Senators haven't won a series since 2017. The Flyers have won one series in the past six seasons. The Canadiens have won two in the past five.

The Golden Knights have won more games (74) and more series (15) in the playoffs than any team since they joined the NHL as an expansion team in 2017-18. They made the Cup Final in 2018 and won the Cup in 2023.

Vegas has gone 19-4-1 since replacing Bruce Cassidy with John Tortorella as coach March 29, thanks in no small part to Carter Hart returning from a lower-body injury and taking over the net.

After defeating the Utah Mammoth in six games in the Western Conference First Round and the Anaheim Ducks in six in the second, they faced a Colorado team that was 8-1 entering the Western Conference Final -- and swept the Avalanche in shocking fashion. They're on a six-game winning streak and have a shot to finish 16-4 themselves.

This is a veteran group that can play different styles and won't be fazed by anything.

Carolina is 10-1 when scoring first and 7-0 when leading after two periods? Vegas has six comeback wins, including four in the third period, and is 7-1 when scoring first and 8-0 when leading after two.

The Hurricanes are 5-0 in overtime? The Golden Knights are 3-0.

The Hurricanes control the puck and outshoot their opponents every game? The Golden Knights are content to protect the front of the net, keep shots to the outside, rely on their goalie and be opportunistic on offense. When outshot in the playoffs, they're 8-3.

Vegas has the postseason leaders in goals ( Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden with 10 each), assists (Jack Eichel with 16) and points (Mitch Marner with 21). That's a little deceiving because the Golden Knights have played three more games than the Hurricanes, but Marner (1.31), Eichel (1.13) and Mark Stone (0.91) essentially match Carolina's points-per-game leaders.

Shea Theodore has been similar to Miller on defense, and Hart has been nearly as good as Andersen in goal with a 2.22 GAA and .924 save percentage.

"This team knows how to win," Tortorella said. "They've done it. I think they've shown it in the past three rounds."

We'll see who shows it in the last one.