3 Things to Watch: Hurricanes at Golden Knights, Game 3 of Stanley Cup Final

(1M) Carolina Hurricanes at (1P) Vegas Golden Knights

Stanley Cup Final, Game 3

Best-of-7 series tied 1-1

8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC

LAS VEGAS -- The 2026 Stanley Cup Final is already historic, and anticipation is building for what could come next in this back-and-forth, no-lead-is-safe series between the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes.

"It's obviously a new series," Carolina defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere said. "A five-game series, now."

The Golden Knights rallied from a two-goal deficit in the first period to win Game 1, 5-4, on Tuesday. The Hurricanes came back from down 2-0 in the third period to win Game 2, 4-3 in overtime, on Thursday.

It's the first time in 108 all-time Stanley Cup finals that each team has staged a multigoal comeback win within the first two games of the series. Carolina is the first team in more than 80 years to win a Cup Final game after trailing by multiple goals in the last 10 minutes of regulation.

Game 3 is at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

"I mean, it's been a lot of fun so far," Vegas forward Colton Sissons said. "Some good hockey games. Two teams going at it. Some lead changes. Yeah, that's playoff hockey right there."

The Golden Knights, who had their seven-game winning streak end in Game 2, will play their first home game since May 26, when they finished sweeping the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.

Vegas has won three in a row at home and is 6-2 here in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"I mean, these are intense crowds," Golden Knights forward Keegan Kolesar said. "You saw it (Thursday) with the lead change. I haven't heard a crowd that loud probably since the Whiteout (in Winnipeg) a couple years ago. So, very excited to be going home to our home crowd. Obviously, we got the first one, which is great. We wanted to get two, we didn't. A split is great, so now we go back to Vegas with home-ice advantage."

It's not as if the Hurricanes will be intimidated; they're 6-0 on the road in the playoffs after going 24-12-5 on the road in the regular season.

They're also coming off a win and feeling good about finally getting their power play going with Jordan Staal's goal at 15:25 of the third period giving them a 3-2 lead and Seth Jarvis' power-play goal at 3:56 of overtime.

Carolina was 0-for-2 with one shot on the power play in the first period of Game 2 after going 0-for-2 with no shots in Game 1. The Hurricanes were 12.1 percent on the power play (7-for-58) in the playoffs coming into Game 2.

"We're confident," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We should be. We played two good games and we're starting over. That's the way I look at it."

When a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final series is tied 1-1, the winner of Game 3 has gone on to win the series 77.4 percent of the time (24-7).

Here are three things to watch in Game 3:

1. The Golden Brett

Don't take your eyes off No. 21 in gold. 

Vegas forward Brett Howden already has three goals in the series, including the first two in Game 2. He's up to a League-leading 13 in the playoffs, tied for the Golden Knights record for most goals in a single postseason set by Jonathan Marchessault in 2023.

Howden scored 12 goals in the regular season. He is the seventh player in NHL history to score more goals in the playoffs than he did in the regular season (minimum 10 goals scored in the regular season).

He also had an assist in Game 1, and has a chance to become the fourth player in the past 50 years to have at least two points in the first three or more games of a Stanley Cup Final, joining Mikko Rantanen (three, Colorado Avalanche, 2022), Paul Coffey (three, Edmonton Oilers, 1987) and Wayne Merrick (three, New York Islanders, 1981).

"I think he's in the moment," Vegas coach John Tortorella said. "I just think he likes the situation. I think the line (with Howden, William Karlsson and Mitch Marner) has been good. That line, once we put it together, just connected. I don't think he's afraid of a damn thing as far as playoffs, what comes with it, the flows of it. I think he feels that good about himself."

2. Carolina's new forward lines

It wasn't a surprise to see Brind'Amour tinkering with the forward lines in the second period after Vegas took a 2-0 lead. 

Brind'Amour swapped Jordan Martinook and Jarvis, moving Martinook up to play with Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, and Jarvis to a line with Staal and Nikolaj Ehlers.

The switch didn't result in a 5-on-5 goal for either line, but there was more energy from both lines after Brind'Amour made the change. 

It'll be interesting to see if Brind'Amour goes back to the original lines of Jarvis with Aho and Svechnikov, which had been struggling, and Martinook with Staal and Ehlers, or if he maintains the forward lines he used in the second half of Game 2 with the hope each can build on the energy it created and perhaps capitalize too.

3. McNabb and Vegas' 'D' corps

It's still not clear if Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb will be able to play Saturday as Tortorella would not provide an update on his status.

McNabb was struck in the face with the puck at 10:50 of the first period of Game 2 and reportedly had to go to the hospital. He did not return to the game.

It would be a significant loss to the Golden Knights' back end if McNabb is unable to play. He had three assists in Game 1 and is one of their most physical defenseman who plays a hard 20-plus minutes per game paired with Shea Theodore. 

Vegas particularly missed him on the penalty kill in the third period of Game 2, when Staal scored on a deflection from the slot and Jarvis scored on a one-timer from the left face-off circle.

If he can't play, it's likely that Kaedan Korczak will come back into the lineup and Jeremy Lauzon will play increased minutes again. Lauzon played 21:08 in Game 2 and was on the ice for all four goals against after playing 13:32 and finishing minus-2 in Game 1, his first game back after missing 10 with an injury.

The Golden Knights also have Ben Hutton as an option.

Regardless, McNabb's injury will test the Golden Knights' defensive depth.

"You get to the fourth round, you have to tap into that," Tortorella said. "So, we're very comfortable where we're at."

Hurricanes projected lineup

Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho – Jordan Martinook

Taylor Hall -- Logan Stankoven -- Jackson Blake

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Jordan Staal -- Seth Jarvis

William Carrier -- Mark Jankowski -- Eric Robinson

Jaccob Slavin -- Jalen Chatfield

K'Andre Miller -- Sean Walker

Shayne Gostisbehere -- Alexander Nikishin

Frederik Andersen

Brandon Bussi

Scratched: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Mike Reilly, Pyotr Kochetkov

Injured: None

Golden Knights projected lineup

Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Pavel Dorofeyev

Brett Howden -- William Karlsson -- Mitch Marner

Tomas Hertl -- Colton Sissons -- Mark Stone

Cole Smith -- Nic Dowd -- Keegan Kolesar

Shea Theodore -- Dylan Coghlan

Noah Hanifin -- Rasmus Andersson

Jeremy Lauzon -- Kaedan Korczak

Carter Hart

Adin Hill

Scratched: Brandon Saad, Akira Schmid, Reilly Smith, Ben Hutton, Jaycob Megna, Braeden Bowman

Injured: Brayden McNabb (upper body), Jonas Rondbjerg (lower body)

Status report

Martinook and Jarvis switched lines in the second period of Game 2, which could remain in place Saturday. … McNabb, a defenseman, was injured in the first period of Game 2 and his status remains unknown; Korczak exited the ice early from the Golden Knights' optional morning skate, an indication he could play.