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 second entry, Martinook discusses a wild 5-4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina on Tuesday. He also discusses the impact the crowd had on the back-and forth game, particularly when forward Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the Hurricanes on the first shift of the game. Martinook also talks about the hype video from his family the team distributed on the morning of the game, which featured his wife Courtney and his three children: Chase, Ivy and Lane.

Game 2 of the Final is here Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC). 

Game 1, when you haven’t seen a team in a long time, there's obviously that feeling-out process to get in tune with what each other are all about, and I think throughout the first game there are things you can learn about each other. There are things we can improve on and pick up the way they are playing. We had a few too many defensive breakdowns and lapses that are maybe a bit uncharacteristic of our group. I’m excited to shore those up and get back at it. 

The crowd was incredible last night and then 'Fly' (Ehlers) scores that first shift. It was so loud. You expected that out of them because they waited a long time too. We need them to keep the energy up and we need to be better for them, and we will.

To walk out on the ice and hear the crowd and see the Stanley Cup at center ice, wow. That’s obviously the spectacle that they are creating, and a cool one. It allows you to see exactly what you're going for. I feel like you already have a bit of the butterflies and then they throw that out there and your heart is racing. It’s cool to know and see what all this means. 

It was amazing in that game how the crowd would seem to get louder every time after Vegas scored. That’s a calling card of our crowd since I have been here. I’ve always said, sometimes when we get scored on, they get louder. They showed it last night. I think it's their way of trying to lift us back up, and it does help. We feel it 100 percent. When you get scored on, it's a little deflating so just to know they have your back gives you a little more energy to go out and try to get it back. 

In the game, Vegas came back from our start and they tie it up and then they take the lead and we get one back and it happens again. I guess it's what you expect when you have the two best teams going at it. There’s things we need to clear up to fix our mistakes and they're going to want to clear up theirs. Today, we had meetings, watched film and will make our adjustments. 

It’s always hard to lose. You hate to lose. But I think there are reasons why we lost. Some of the plays we made, we just don’t make but that's a credit to them maybe. I think we can be better in a lot of areas. I think that's an encouraging sign that we can be better and we were right there in that game. 

I need to talk about the video with my family in it. It was amazing.

I woke up from my nap and trying to get jacked up for the game and then I’m crying in my bed after seeing that. Very emotional. My wife, she has been with me through it all, back to my first days as a pro and then my kids. … I think it’s pretty cool that I have son that understands what's happening right now. It’s special and that video hit me really hard. 

That’s something that I will cherish for the rest of my life. 

There’s a tunnel-vision aspect to all this, of course. My mind is on one sole thing and you're trying to be present for your family as well. This is the culmination of your career and you want to do everything you can to win it. It’s nice that I will get home and my daughter Ivy will be talking about lipstick or the dress she's wearing and I can talk about that. 

My family is so important, and it's nice to be around them through this. I'm happy that I woke up today and got hugs from everybody. I think it’s the cliche phrase that the sun will come up tomorrow, and it did. 

You still have to be super excited with the position we are in. We lost, but there are things we can do differently.  There is another opportunity to win tomorrow and then you're right back in it.