Shea Theodore’s shot off the end boards finally beat Brandon Bussi at 5:38 of the second overtime, giving the Vegas Golden Knights a 5-4 Game 3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes after a four-goal third-period lead disappeared at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.
Golden Knights survive wild Game 3, take 2-1 Cup Final lead
Vegas is back in front in the Stanley Cup Final, but it took 85 minutes and 38 seconds to get there. Theodore unloaded from the right point in double overtime, with the puck caroming off the boards behind the Carolina net and banking in off Bussi.
Theodore said the play was about getting a puck through traffic and hoping for a favorable bounce. Vegas got exactly that after Carolina had forced overtime with one of the most remarkable late rallies in Final history.
The Golden Knights lead the best-of-seven series 2-1.
Coach John Tortorella said there was little need for a speech after regulation. His club knew it had surrendered a 4-0 lead, he said, and the focus was simply on settling down and returning to its game in overtime.
Marner’s record second period puts Vegas in command
Mitch Marner produced a Stanley Cup Final record before the game had even reached its most dramatic turn. He scored three times in 6:10, the fastest hat trick ever recorded in the Final, eclipsing Maurice Richard’s 6:21 mark from 69 years ago.
Marner also assisted on Tomas Hertl’s power-play opener, becoming the first player in Cup Final history to post four points in a single period.
Hertl broke through at 10:26 of the second period, scoring 10 seconds into Vegas’ first power play after Carolina was penalized for too many men. The Golden Knights had gone 0-for-7 with the extra skater through the first two games of the series.
Sixteen seconds after Hertl scored, Marner’s backhand from near the right-side boards was knocked into the Carolina net by defenseman Sean Walker.
Marner made it 3-0 at 14:32. He had struck the right post on a breakaway 11 seconds earlier, but Brayden McNabb kept the puck in the zone and fed him behind the Hurricanes coverage. Marner shifted from forehand to backhand and finished.
Marner credited McNabb’s patience on the pinch and setup, calling the defenseman’s play outstanding.
His third goal arrived at 16:52. Hertl sent Marner in behind Alexander Nikishin, and Marner beat Frederik Andersen from the right circle with a far-side shot that went off the goaltender’s blocker.
The four Vegas goals came in 6:26, with the club holding a 4-0 edge entering the third period. Marner now leads the playoffs with 28 points, including 10 goals and 18 assists. It is the highest single-postseason point total by a Golden Knights player, passing Jack Eichel’s 26 points during Vegas’ 2023 championship run.
Eichel said Marner has reached another level and called his teammate’s play exceptional.
Carolina’s third-period surge forces overtime
Bussi entered for the third period after Andersen allowed four goals on 16 shots. The relief goaltender immediately stopped Marner on a short-handed penalty shot at 4:04, a save that kept Carolina within striking distance.
Tortorella later said he felt Vegas needed that fifth goal, especially after what followed.
Jordan Martinook started the comeback at 7:03, finishing after Seth Jarvis created the chance with a strong forecheck. Martinook was hit from behind by Cole Smith on the play.
Taylor Hall scored 26 seconds later after Sebastian Aho stole the puck from McNabb in the offensive zone and sent a backhand pass across the ice. Hall finished from the far post.
Jordan Staal cut the deficit to one at 7:42, redirecting Jaccob Slavin’s shot from the left-wing wall. Carolina scored three times in 39 seconds on three consecutive shots, the quickest three-goal burst in Stanley Cup Final history. The old record was 56 seconds, set by Montreal in Game 2 of the 1954 Final.
Carolina had also scored three goals on successive shots during the third period of Game 2 on Thursday.
With Bussi on the bench and Carolina skating six-on-four late, Andrei Svechnikov tied it at 18:18. After a puck battle in front, with Nikolaj Ehlers pushed into the crease area, Svechnikov found the loose puck in the slot and pushed it home.
The Hurricanes became only the second team to erase a four-goal deficit in a Stanley Cup Final game. The New York Rangers did so in Game 1 in 1972, though Boston won that game in regulation.
Staal called the collapse-and-comeback sequence a painful blow for Carolina. Martinook said the Hurricanes draw confidence from their ability to rally, but added that they cannot keep digging such deep holes.
Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said his team had been fine early, then took a costly too-many-men penalty. Vegas made a strong play on the power-play goal, he said, and the next bounce helped turn the period into a difficult stretch for the Hurricanes.
After the horn
Vegas goaltender Carter Hart made 29 saves. Bussi stopped 18 of 19 shots in relief, while Andersen’s night ended after the four-goal second period.
Before Vegas’ scoring run, Carolina successfully challenged two apparent Golden Knights goals early in the second. The first, 34 seconds into the period, was overturned for offside. The second, at 4:00, came back because of goaltender interference. Tortorella said both rulings were correct.
McNabb played 35:47 while wearing a full facial cage after taking a Nikolaj Ehlers slap shot to the face in Game 2. He finished plus-3 with two assists, including the pass that set up Theodore’s overtime winner.
Hurricanes forward William Carrier left during the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return. Brind’Amour had no update after the game.
Carolina entered Saturday unbeaten in overtime during the playoffs, but its 6-0 record in extra time is now 6-1.
Tortorella said he had never experienced a playoff game quite like it: Vegas could not miss in the second period, then lost control of nearly everything in the third. William Karlsson summed up the result more simply: it was not drawn up that way, but Vegas will take it.
Next puck drop
Game 4: Tuesday, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, 8 p.m. ET. Broadcasts: ABC, SN, TVAS and CBC.
SEO Title: Golden Knights edge Hurricanes in double overtime in Game 3
SEO Description: Shea Theodore scored in the second overtime as Vegas beat Carolina 5-4 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final after the Hurricanes erased a four-goal deficit.
