With the series deadlocked, Carolina returns home eyeing a 3-2 lead. All eyes remain on Jordan Staal’s dominance and Rod Brind’Amour’s looming decision at goaltender.
What - Game 5 (2-2)
When - 8 p.m., Thursday, June 11
Where - Lenovo Center; Raleigh, NC
How to Watch - ABC, CBC, Sportsnet, TVA Sports
The Carolina Hurricanes will look to take their first lead of the series tonight after evening it up on the road in Game 4.
Jordan Staal continues to lead the Hurricanes on both sides of the ice, with his two-goal performance sealing the win, but he also is still dominating defensively too.
He's done a great job slowing top Vegas' top options and that will have to continue in Game 5 if the Canes want to grab a stranglehold on the series.
Carolina's starting netminder is also a big question mark heading into Game 5.
The team turned to rookie netminder Brandon Bussi for the pivotal Game 4 as Frederik Andersen was supposedly in need of rest, and he backstopped the team to the much needed win.
Rod Brind'Amour hasn't revealed his hand yet for the Game 5 starter, and we may not know again until warmups, but there's a good chance they go back to Bussi.
Streaks
- Jordan Staal (5g, 1a) has goals in four straight games.
- Sebastian Aho (4a), Logan Stankoven (2g, 1a) have points in three straight games.
- Jackson Blake (1g, 2a) and Taylor Hall (1g, 1a) have point in back-to-back games.
Game Notes
- Carolina and Vegas have never met in the postseason before.
- This is both team's third trip to the Stanley Cup Final in franchise history (CAR - 2002, 2006, 2026; VGK - 2018, 2023, 2026).
- William Carrier played for the Golden Knights from 2017-2024, winning the Cup with them in 2023.
- Noah Hanifin (2015-2018) and Dylan Coghlan (2022-2024) both played for Carolina.
- The Hurricanes went 0-2 against the Golden Knights in the regular season, with both games taking place in October.
- All-time, the Canes have a 9-7 record against Vegas.
Key Matchups
Projected Starting Goalies
- Brandon Bussi: 1-1; 0.900 Sv%; 2.28 GAA
- Carter Hart: 14-6; 0.912 Sv%; 2.51 GAA
Leading Scorers
- Goals - Logan Stankoven (11) / Brett Howden (14)
- Points - Taylor Hall & Jackson Blake (18) / Mitch Marner (29)
Power Play
- Carolina - 16.4% (11/67)
- Vegas - 20.7% (12/58)
Penalty Kill
- Carolina - 92.3% (60/65)
- Vegas - 83.1% (49/59)
Hurricanes Projected Lineup
Andrei Svechnikov - Sebastian Aho - Jordan Martinook
Taylor Hall - Logan Stankoven - Jackson Blake
Nikolaj Ehlers - Jordan Staal - Seth Jarvis
William Carrier - Mark Jankowski - Eric Robinson
Jaccob Slavin - Jalen Chatfield
K'Andre Miller - Sean Walker
Shayne Gostisbehere - Alexander Nikishin
Brandon Bussi
Frederik Andersen
Injuries and Scratches: Mike Reilly, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Pyotr Kochetkov
Golden Knights Projected Lineup
Ivan Barbashev - Jack Eichel - Pavel Dorofeyev
Brett Howden - William Karlsson - Mitch Marner
Tomas Hertl - Colton Sissons - Mark Stone
Cole Smith - Nic Dowd - Keegan Kolesar
Brayden McNabb - Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin - Rasmus Andersson
Dylan Coghlan - Jeremy Lauzon
Carter Hart
Adin Hill
Injuries and Scratches: Kaedan Korczak, Braeden Bowman, Jaycob Megna, Brandon Saad, Ben Hutton, Reilly Smith
Recent Articles
Stay updated with the most interesting Carolina Hurricanes stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News to never miss a story.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.