Hall among top performers for Hurricanes in Game 6 of Stanley Cup Final

LAS VEGAS -- Who played well in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final? Sometimes it’s easy to tell, sometimes it isn’t. NHL.com graded the players in the sixth game of the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena, a 3-0 win by the Carolina Hurricanes against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday that delivered the Hurricanes their second Stanley Cup championship.

Here are the things that stood out the most.

Honor roll

Taylor Hall (Carolina Hurricanes): The fleet-footed forward scored the game’s first goal 3:47 into the first period, taking a stretch pass and snapping a far-side shot past goalie Carter Hart. He had nine points (three goals, six assists) in four potential clinching games this postseason. He also had 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in Carolina’s nine road games, passing Cory Stillman and Ron Francis, 10 points each, for the franchise record.

Jackson Blake (Carolina Hurricanes): The second-line forward scored the second goal, at 13:31 of the second period, and assisted on the first, for seven multipoint games in a single postseason, which passed Matt Cullen (six) for the most in franchise history. He is the third player in Whalers/Hurricanes history to reach 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in a postseason, joining Eric Staal (28) and Stillman (26), each of whom did it 2006.

Jaccob Slavin (Carolina Hurricanes): His stretch pass set up Hall for the all-important first goal and it also gave him 13 career points (one goal, 12 assists) in a potential series-clinching game. More importantly, he was a monster in the defensive zone, using positioning and an active stick to break up chance after chance. He is the second American, after Ken Morrow (New York Islanders) in 1980, to win an Olympic gold medal and the Stanley Cup in the same season.

Brandon Bussi (Carolina Hurricanes): The first-year NHL goalie finished his Cinderella season in style, making 22 saves and keeping Vegas frustrated throughout much of the game. A lunging, unorthodox stop on a one-timer by Pavel Dorofeyev was just one example of him snuffing out hope. Since entering the series in the third period of Game 3 with what was imagined as mop-up duty, Bussi stopped 81 of 87 shots to allow the Hurricanes to find their footing and pull away in the series.

Carter Hart (Vegas Golden Knights): The Vegas goalie said he had to be better in Game 6 after allowing four goals in each of the first five games and playing to an .854 save percentage. He did so in Game 6, making 20 saves, but the Golden Knights’ offense could not get on track.

Stock watch

Carolina fans: ⬆️ There were more than 100 fans of the Carolina Hurricanes who invaded The Fortress when doors opened for Game 6. Dressed in red jerseys, they gathered along the glass behind the visiting net and started screaming “We want the Cup,” drawing loud boos from Vegas fans. Standing next to the Vegas showgirls during warmups, they banged on the glass and screamed. During the national anthem, they bellowed “Red” during the “rocket’s red glare” lyric, a tradition from their home rink. It wasn’t quite the C of Red of Calgary Flames lore, but nonetheless impressive.

Brett Howden: ⬇️ The Vegas forward had been a hero throughout these playoffs, but his turnover at the attacking blue line in the first period started the transition for the Hurricanes that led to the first goal, scored by Hall. It was extra important because teams that score first with a chance to clinch the Stanley Cup were 34-0 since 1988.

Rasmus Andersson/Noah Hanifin: ⬇️ The defensive pairing for the Golden Knights was on the ice for each of the first two Carolina goals, joined by forwards Ivan Barbashev, Howden and Mitch Marner. To make matters worse, Anderson took an interference penalty at the attacking blue line late in the second to blunt momentum by the Hurricanes.

Carolina penalty kill: ⬆️ The Hurricanes killed each of the three power plays in this game, never letting Vegas feel good about itself with the man advantage. Vegas had one goal in nine attempts across the final three games of the series.

Jordan Staal: ⬆️ The Carolina captain did not score for a record sixth straight game in the Final, but his fingerprints were all over the game. He played heavy defensive minutes and he owned the face-off circle. Staal, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, was 14-for-22 at the dot, the primary reason Carolina won 33 of 63 face-offs in the game.

What we learned

Hurricanes found a way to get “dirty”

The narrative in the first two games was that Vegas was winning in the dirty areas and that was why they were the better team early on. The Hurricanes started to figure it out in Game 3, winning the battles for territory in front of each crease and using dominance along the boards to get pucks out of their end and cycle in Vegas’ end, often extending zone time and wearing out the Vegas defensemen.

Tortorella not afraid to switch things up

With the season on the line, Vegas coach John Tortorella rolled the dice, making three additions, one by necessity and two by choice. Reilly Smith returned to the fray, playing for the first time since the first round, in place of William Karlsson, who was injured in Game 5. In the other move, rookie Braeden Bowman made his playoff debut, taking over fourth-line duties from Keegan Kolesar, who had played in each of the first 21 playoffs games. Bowman had 26 points (eight goals, 18 assists) in 54 regular-season games, but hadn’t played since March 21. On defense, Kaedan Korczak was inserted into the lineup for Dylan Coghlan, who was minus-4 in five Final games. Korczak last played on May 26 against the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.