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, since the Hurricanes finished with more points in the regular season. Carolina reached the Cup Final with a 6-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final at Lenovo Center on Friday.
“It’s a different animal; I’ll just say that,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said of facing the Golden Knights. “That’s for sure. You can’t get this far without being top-notch. So, we know that’s going to be a huge challenge, but give us a day.”
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 have 10 goals each.
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 reached the Cup Final for the third time, and their 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.
