Golden Knights to play Hurricanes or Canadiens in Stanley Cup Final

The Vegas Golden Knights will play the Carolina Hurricanes or Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Golden Knights advanced to the Cup Final for the first time since 2023 by eliminating the Colorado Avalanche with a 2-1 win in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Tuesday. They defeated the Utah Mammoth in six games in the first round and the Anaheim Ducks in six games in the second round.

Vegas (39-26-17), which is the No. 1 seed from the Pacific Division, will start the best-of-7 series on the road at Carolina (53-22-7), the No. 1 seed from the Metropolitan Division, or Montreal (48-24-10), the No. 3 seed from the Atlantic Division, since each finished with more points in the regular season. The Hurricanes have a 2-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final with Game 4 at Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

The Golden Knights are 1-1 in the Cup Final. They defeated the Florida Panthers in five games in 2023 after losing to the Washington Capitals in five games in 2018.

Forward Mitch Marner leads Vegas in the playoffs with 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in 16 games, and center Jack Eichel has 18 points (two goals, 16 assists). Forwards Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden each have 10 goals.

Fifteen of the Golden Knights’ 22 skaters to play a game have at least one goal, and 21 have at least one point.

Goalie Carter Hart has started each game for Vegas this postseason. He is 12-4 with a 2.22 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.

Carolina began the playoffs 8-0, sweeping the Ottawa Senators in the first round and the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round. The Hurricanes are trying to reach the Cup Final for the third time, and first since winning the Cup in 2006.

The Golden Knights were 2-0-0 against the Hurricanes in the regular season, outscoring them 10-4. Eichel had three goals and four points in the two games, and Dorofeyev had three goals. Marner (four assists) and forward Ivan Barbashev (one goal, three assists) each had four points.

Hart, who signed with Vegas on Oct. 24, did not face Carolina in the regular season. Akira Schmid played both games, going 2-0-0 with a 2.18 GAA and .915 save percentage. He started one game and replaced an injured Adin Hill in the other.

Center Sebastian Aho led the Hurricanes with two points (one goal, one assist) against the Golden Knights. Forwards Jordan Martinook, Andrei Svechnikov and Logan Stankoven each scored once.

Frederik Andersen went 0-2-0 with a 4.09 GAA and .864 save percentage in starting both games.

Vegas has never played Carolina in the postseason.

Montreal defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games in the first round and the Buffalo Sabres in seven games in the second round, each on the road. The Canadiens reached the Cup Final in 2021 (lost to the Lightning in five games) but haven’t won a championship since 1993.

The Golden Knights went 0-1-1 against the Canadiens during the regular season, losing 4-1 at home on Nov. 28 and 3-2 in overtime on the road Jan. 27.

Dorofeyev had two goals, and captain Mark Stone scored once. Schmid started both games, going 0-1-1 with a 2.93 GAA and .864 save percentage.

Forwards Cole Caufield (two goals, one assist) and Zachary Bolduc (one goal, two assists) led Montreal with three points against Vegas, and forward Jake Evans scored two goals.

Jakub Dobes won his only start, making 32 saves in the 3-2 overtime win. Sam Montembeault, who is the Canadiens’ No. 3 goalie and has not played in the playoffs, made 30 saves in a 4-1 victory.

Vegas has faced Montreal once in the playoffs, losing in six games in the Stanley Cup Semifinals in 2021. They met in the third round because of temporary realignment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.