Stanley Cup Final Live Blog: Game 5 between Golden Knights, Hurricanes

Welcome to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes. The best-of-7 series is tied 2-2. 

NHL.com Editor-in-Chief Bill Price is high atop Lenovo Center in Raleigh to provide all the sights, sounds and highlights of this crucial game.

8:55 p.m. ET

And that's it for a very fast-moving first period. 

The Hurricanes and Golden Knights are tied 1-1 with Vegas holding an 8-6 shot advantage.

However, Vegas will be on the power play for 1:54 to start the second because K'Andre Miller took a delay of game penalty with 5.8 seconds left. 

That's another bad penalty for Carolina.  

Vegas struck first with Pavel Dorofeyev scoring a power-play goal at 6:52, but Jordan Staal came back to tie the game at 11:46. 

He's scored in every game of this Final, making history. 

Here's the note from NHLStats. 

Jordan Staal has tied the NHL record for longest goal streak in a Stanley Cup Final. Overall, he is the fifth player in NHL history to achieve the feat and first in more than 50 years, following Yvan Cournoyer (5 GP in 1973 w/ MTL), Jean Beliveau (5 GP in 1956 w/ MTL), Maurice Richard (5 GP in 1951 w/ MTL) and Cyclone Taylor (5 GP in 1918 w/ VMI). Staal, Beliveau, Richard and Taylor all did so from the start of the series. Staal will have a chance to set a new benchmark Sunday in Las Vegas.

Some special guests in the house tonight are the Norwegian men's World Cup soccer team. If they go tarps off we may have a riot on our hands here. 

I would say after the first period, there have been very few tarps removed. That must be for later in the game.

8:48 p.m. ET 

The Staal goal has seemingly lit a fire under the Hurricanes. 

There is no question it's gotten this crowd into a frenzy. 

Staal has now tied an NHL record for goals in five straight Cup Final games. 

The others are Yvan Cournoyer (5 GP in 1973 w/ MTL), Jean Beliveau (5 GP in 1956 w/ MTL), Maurice Richard (5 GP in 1951 w/ MTL) and Cyclone Taylor (5 GP in 1918 w/ VMI). Beliveau, Richard and Taylor all did so from the start of the series.

I wonder if Dave Stubbs has Cyclone Taylor's phone number. 

He's your Conn Smythe winner if Carolina wins this series. I'm calling it now.

Meanwhile, Vegas is putting the pressure on Bussi, but he's been up for the challenge. 

Needless to say, this place is rocking right now.

8:44 p.m. ET

Well, the Canes listened to the fans and shot and now we are tied. 

Jordan Staal with a gorgeous redirection of a Nik Ehlers shot and it's 1-1 with 8:14 left in the first. 

Wow, what a goal and what a stretch Staal is putting together. 

This place is nuts.

8:41 p.m. ET

They're not booing, they are saying "shooooot" at the Hurricanes. 

Carolina is generating some chances, but seem to be looking for the perfect shot, maybe overpassing in the zone. 

On the other hand, Vegas is peppering Brandon Bussi with five shots so far, including Pavel Dorofeyev's goal at 6:52 that's given Vegas a 1-0 lead. 

The just did the Military Mission Thanks for service member John Kolar and played "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden to kick if off. 

Then they did a bit with Stormy, the Canes mascot, asking Mother Nature from Vegas if she had any offseason plans while "I Wanna Know What Love Is" by Foreigner played. Pretty funny.

8:34 p.m. ET 

And the Golden Knights strike first. Pavel Dorofeyev scores 30 seconds into a power play on a gorgeous pass from Jack Eichel. 

The Golden Knights get the first power play when Nik Ehlers clears the puck out of his defensive zone all the way across the ice and into the crowd. That's a no-no and really inexcusable. He wasn't under that much pressure. He just sailed the puck into the crowd from the other side of the ice. 

If you get a chance, check out the videos of Canes radio guys Mike Maniscalco calling the game-winning goals. Each time, he nearly knocks over his partner, Tripp Tracy. Comical.

8:27 p.m. ET

This crowd is fired up for this one. 

They are cheering every hit, every completed pass, or for the Canes, every pass breakup. 

Anytime a Canes player gets near the puck in the Vegas zone, you can hear the anticipation rise. 

They are ready to erupt - they just need to Canes to put one in the net. 

But no one has gotten close yet. Taylor Hall and Jalen Chatfield have the only two shots on goal through the first five minutes of the game. It's 0-0, or nil-nil as the soccer fans like to say.

8:20 p.m. ET

And here we go.

The greatest song of the 1980s - "Rock You Like A Hurricane" by Scorpions - has played, anthem singer Adam Lee Decker has whipped the crowd into a frenzy and Mike Commodore - bathrobe and all - has got the siren cranked.

Yes, that's right. Former Canes player Mike Commodore was introduced as the siren ringer and when he was showed on the big screen, was wearing a white Canes bathrobe. That, and his wild head of red hair, made for quite a scene.

It certainly seems like a harbinger of another nutty night here in the Cup Final.

No team has won two straight games in this series, a trend Carolina is hoping ends tonight.

We just got the official lineups - Freddy Andersen and Amir Miftakhov are each listed as scratches, so there's that.

7:58 p.m. ET

Warmups are over and we are about 15 minutes from the pregame antics here in Raleigh. 

What a series this has been to this point. 4 really incredible games. 

Some of the players and coaches were asked today about the similarities between this series and the NBA Finals with no lead being safe and every game like a mini drama. Jack Eichel said he didn't watch the NBA game last night, while Vegas coach John Tortorella agreed with the idea that both series have been nuts.

During warmups they showed two people in the crowd with Bussi shirts that were a play on the famous Buckee's truck stop shirts. 

And another guy in the crowd is wearing a giant inflatable suit with the letters B U S on the front.

It's Bussi mania here. 

During the morning skate, Jordan Staal referred to Bussi as Bus Man. Me and Shawn Roarke were trying to think of other nicknames for him. Shawn suggested Ralph or Kramden after the world's most famous bus driver. 

Also, breaking news: As of 7:55 p.m. some tarps are already off in here.

7:42 p.m.

The players are on the ice and one mystery is over - Brandon Bussi is back in goal for the Hurricanes. 

This will be his second straight start after Freddy Andersen started the first 16 games of the postseason. Bussi relieved Andersen in Game 3, which the Hurricanes lost in 2 OTs, and was the winning goalie in Game 4. 

But there still is another mystery. Earlier Thursday, the Hurricanes recalled goalie Amir Miftakhov from the American Hockey League. 

We are told that Miftakhov and Andersen are each eligble to be the EBUG in case Bussi and backup Pyotr Kochetkov each get hurt. 

It's starting to fill up in here, with many people still outside enjoying the last of the tailgating festivities. 

It's such a fun atmosphere in and out of the arena down here. And really, really loud. 

I'll check back after warmups.

7:30 p.m. 

Another game, another mystery surrounding the Hurricanes’ starting goalie. 

While we all expect Brandon Bussi to be back between the pipes for the Canes, coach Rod Brind’Amour was coy this morning, saying “everyone is available.” 

Frederik Andersen, who started the first three games of this series, was pulled after two periods in Game 3 in favor of Bussi, and did not dress in Game 4, was not on the ice for the morning skate Thursday but was on the ice before that, according to Brind’Amour.

However, about an hour or so ago, the Hurricanes added Amir Miftakhov, an AHL goalie, to their roster. We will wait to see what the Hurricanes say, but it could mean Andersen is no longer available.

Here is what Tom Gulitti had to say about it this morning. 

Needless to say, the tailgate parties were in full swing outside the arena. The “honk if you love hockey” lady was back after I didn’t see her out there for Game 2.

It’s pretty hot down here in Carolina – not as hot as Vegas, but close – but those fans were out there, in their jerseys, getting tuned up for a massive game. 

The folks who got here early were able to find spots under trees. Very smart. 

And then the other folks who got here early got into the arena as soon as the doors opened to get their Tarps Off shirts. There was a big line outside the main gift shop right around 6:40. I expect plenty of tarps off tonight. It worked in Game 2, so why not try it again.

Warmups will start in a few minutes and then I will report back with the goalie update for the Canes.