Hurricanes, Golden Knights ready for anything entering Game 4 of Cup Final

LAS VEGAS -- The Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes has already featured three wild games in five days, all with multigoal comebacks, two decided in overtime, including one in double OT, and broken up by cross-country travel with a three-hour time change.

The Golden Knights have the edge in the best-of-7 series, 2-1, thanks to Shea Theodore's goal 5:38 into the second overtime on Saturday.

"These games, they're probably three of the most chaotic but fun games I've ever been a part of, and that's what you're expecting," Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook said. "You're playing in the most important series of your life and you want the games to be like this. They're special."

The next one is Tuesday. It's Game 4 at T-Mobile Arena here (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC). 

Now what?

"Every game starts fresh, so I don't know what it's going to be," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It might be a 0-0 game. It might be a 10-9 game the way it's going. So, you just don't know. That's OK. I think the one thing I feel really good about our group is whatever way the game goes we seem to be able to play it. If it's a 0-0 game, no problem. If it's a high-scoring game, we seem to find a way to fit in that too."

So do the Golden Knights, which is why this Stanley Cup Final is already so compelling, and likely will continue to be all the way through.

Vegas didn't panic when down 2-0 in the first period of Game 1. It rallied to go up 3-2 in the second period. Then it was 3-3. Then 4-3 Vegas early in the third. Then 4-4. Finally, Tomas Hertl scored with 3:24 left to give the Golden Knights a 5-4 win.

Carolina didn't panic in Game 2, after the Golden Knights went up 2-0 in the second period. The Hurricanes rallied with three goals on three shots in a 5:05 span in the third. Vegas tied it with 1:21 remaining. Carolina won it 4-3 on Seth Jarvis' goal 3:56 into overtime.

Then Game 3 happened. Vegas went up 4-0 in the second period. Carolina scored four in the third to tie it, including three on three shots in 39 seconds. Theodore gave the Golden Knights a 5-4 win in double OT.

"I think it just goes to show that a team is never out of it," Vegas forward Brett Howden said. "Yeah, it's been a crazy few games, but we like where our team is at and we just want to keep improving. We're excited for the next game."

It might feature a major plot twist. 

Brandon Bussi could replace Frederik Andersen as Carolina's starting goalie. Brind'Amour said he has made his decision between Bussi and Andersen, but he loves to play the suspense game, so he's not going to say who will get the start.

Bussi relieved Andersen to start the third period Saturday. He made 18 saves, including stopping Mitch Marner on a penalty shot, before Theodore's one-timer went in after a Vegas-friendly bounce off the end boards and the goalie.

"I thought he was incredible," Martinook said. "Just was so calm the whole time and gave us a chance to come back. That's what you want from your goalie. Let's be honest, he was great for us all year, it's just that he hadn't got a chance to get in there. He did and he played really well."

There likely will be no such potential plot twists for the Golden Knights in Game 4, or at least none are expected. Brayden McNabb and Noah Hanifin didn't practice Monday, but at this point there is no reason to speculate that either defenseman will be unable to play.

"There's a lot of things that comes with the Stanley Cup Final, the desperation and emotion of both teams," Vegas center Jack Eichel said. "I think you're seeing that. For us, it's just about playing our game and trying to do the things that make our team successful."

The Golden Knights have so far found more ways to do that against the Hurricanes than any other team has in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season. 

Vegas has scored 13 goals in three games, including three in a row in Game 1 and four straight in Game 3. 

By comparison, the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers combined for 10 in eight games against the Hurricanes in the first two rounds, and the Montreal Canadiens scored 11 in five games against them in the Eastern Conference Final.

"We've got to be a lot better at stopping the bleeding a lot earlier," Carolina forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. "They're a great team. They're going to get their chances. But we've got to limit how big those chances are and help our goalies out a lot more than we have, and just play better."

We'll see if they can. We'll see if they can play well enough to even the series. Or will the Golden Knights move one step closer to a second Stanley Cup championship?

Game 4 is Tuesday. 

Now what?

"I don't know what to expect, honestly," Carolina forward Taylor Hall said. "I thought last game, just with the travel and how tight the games were, I thought you were going to see maybe a slower, less physical game maybe, and it wasn't that at all, right? They came out hard because they lost Game 2 in the fashion that they did, obviously. 

“One game doesn't really transfer to the next. Everything's kind of just its own little spectacle, and you've got to be ready for anything."