Stanley Cup Final blog: Jordan Martinook

Carolina Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook will be keeping his own blog throughout the 2026 Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights. He will check in regularly with behind-the-scenes access.

In his sixth entry, Martinook discusses the 4-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thursday, which gives the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series. Carolina can win the Stanley Cup in Game 6 at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC). Brandon Bussi played in goal, in place of starter Frederik Andersen and made 22 saves, and Jordan Staal scored for a fifth straight game. Andrei Svechnikov scored twice, each on the power play, and Sebastian Aho also scored.

That was something else! Obviously, we wanted this one at home to give ourselves a chance to win it in Vegas. It was a big game by a lot of people. ‘Jordo’ keeps getting us going and I thought ‘Bus’ was phenomenal. I thought the power play was really good and I think they came through in key moments.

I will probably lose sleep over this on that first power-play goal that Vegas got because that is on me. We will figure that out and regroup.

Mistakes this time of year, they are magnified and you just don’t want to do them. I’m hard on myself and I want to be better there, and I need to be better for my guys I am out there with.

It’s nice to get two days again to kind of come off the emotions of this and then we will get back to Vegas and do our best to close it out.

Really hard to believe that we are one win away from winning the Stanley Cup. It speaks volumes of the entire journey by our team this year. We have put everything we have had into it and knowing we have a chance to do what we set out to do is something that is not lost on me. It’s something that I will be thinking about all night.

Knowing it is that close, you are going to be doing everything you can to get it; and you know they will do everything they can to not let that happen. It’s going to be an incredible game.

Bussi has been massive for us. I hate to say I am not surprised because it is incredible what he has done. Knowing what he did all year for us and the fact that he came in and set records for most wins through a certain amount of games and all that. I felt for a long stretch of the season, all he was doing was winning and that’s something that gives him a lot of confidence in himself and we have a lot of confidence in him and it shows. It shows in his play and our play in front of him. He’s a rock back there.

Aho and Svechnikov want to succeed so bad and to see them come through was amazing.

Fishy, that was an incredible goal (Aho) scored, fishing that pass out of his skates. Not many people can make that play. That’s high-level skill from a high-level player and an incredible finish.

‘Svech’ on the power play; those are massive goals and we needed them. He puts a ton into his craft and his shot is lethal. At times, we want him to use it more, but it came through tonight. Massive goals. He is not only in the shooting room, he’s out before practice and out there after practice. He puts a ton of effort into his job and his craft. It’s nice to see him come through.

To see those guys get on the score sheet and get going, they are huge parts of our team, and I am so happy for them.

Now, we have a day off before we leave for Vegas on Saturday. There will be some logistics going into this trip because there are going to be families that want to be there.

I have three kids, so when I am home, there is play to be had and things to be done. Dad mode doesn’t turn off. That’s good because that is probably the best mode to be in for days like tomorrow.